Biden praises '9/11 generation'

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday the 2001 terrorist attacks inspired the "9/11 generation" to enlist in the military as others did after Pearl Harbor.

"Those in this building that day knew what they were witnessing," Biden said at a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the attack on the Pentagon.

"It was a declaration of war by stateless actors bent on changing our way of life, who believed that these horrible acts, these horrible acts of terror directed against innocents could buckle our knees, could bend our will, could begin to break us and break our resolve.

"Many of them were just kids on that bright September morning, but like their grandparents on Dec. 7th, 1941, they courageously bore the burden that history had placed on their shoulders. And as they came of age, they showed up, they showed up to fight for their country."

He said 2.8 million have joined the military since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, "to finish the war begun here that day."

A huge American flag hung over the section of the building where American Airlines Flight 77 crashed. Victims' family members sat in chairs facing the 184 tree-shaded benches, each inscribed with the name of a victim -- 125 who were in the building, the others on the plane -- and a member of the armed forces laid a wreath of white flowers on each bench.

At 9:37 a.m., the time when the plane hit, everybody observed a moment of silence before the Navy chorus sang "Amazing Grace."

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said al-Qaida "tried to weaken us and instead they made us stronger."

He said, "We pledge to never forget the enemy that made this happen, why we fight them, and why we will never stop fighting them to make sure that what happened here and in New York City and in the field in Pennsylvania never happens again."