Obama Meets NYC Firefighters

Washington Post reports:

President Obama, in New York City Thursday following the death of Sept. 11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden, told a group of firefighters that, “when we say we will never forget, we mean what we say.”.

“This is a symbolic site of the extraordinary sacrifice that was made on that terrible day almost 10 years ago,” Obama said at a fire station known as the “Pride of Midtown.”

Fifteen firefighters from the station died in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the most of any firehouse in the city.

He added, “So it’s some comfort, I hope, to all of you to know that when those guys took those extraordinary risks going into Pakistan, that they were doing it in part because of the sacrifices that were made in the States. They were doing it in the name of your brothers that were lost.”

Obama, standing in front of a firetruck, spoke only for a few minutes before joining the firefighters for lunch. He was accompanied by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was the city’s leader on the day of the attacks.

“Obviously you can’t bring back the friends you lost,” Obama told the firefighters, who were wearing their blue uniforms. They later showed him a wall of plaques commemorating those from the station who died on 9/11 .

The stop was the first in a series planned for Obama in New York City on Thursday. Continuing one of the most memorable weeks of his presidency, Obama is meeting with city police officers and then is scheduled to lay a wreath at the National Sept. 11 Memorial near Ground Zero. The president is not expected to give a formal speech there. Following the ceremony, he will meet with relatives of people who died in the Sept. 11 attacks.

“He wants to lay a wreath to honor the victims, to honor the first responders who so courageously rushed to the scene and, in many cases, gave their own lives to try to save others; to honor the spirit of unity in America that we all felt in the wake of that terrible attack,” said White House Press Secretary Jay Carney. “I think the power of that requires no words.”

The president is expected to spend about four hours total in New York. The wreath ceremony will start about 1:30 p.m.