Flags to Fly at Half-Staff on 9/11 Anniversary

US and State of Hawaii flags will be flown at half-staff Wednesday in observance of the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Several months after the attacks, Congress declared Sept. 11 of each year to be Patriot Day. In 2009, lawmakers established that date each year to be observed as the National Day of Service and Remembrance.

President Obama today issued the annual decree for the observance which includes flying the US flag at half-staff. He invited the nation’s governors to participate and Gov. Neil Abercrombie agreed, extending the order to Hawaii flags at all state offices and agencies as well as Hawaii National Guard facilities.

The ruins of the World Trade Center in New York continued to smoulder two days after the attacks. Wikimedia Commons photo.

“On Sept. 11, 2001, amid shattered glass, twisted steel, and clouds of dust, the spirit of America shone through,” Obama’s proclamation said. “We remember the sacrifice of strangers and first responders who rushed into darkness to carry others from danger. We remember the unbreakable bonds of unity we felt in the long days that followed – how we held each other, how we came to our neighbors’ aid, how we prayed for one another. We recall how Americans of every station joined together to support the survivors in their hour of need and to heal our nation in the years that followed.”

Obama’s proclamation also called for a moment of silence beginning at 8:46 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (2:46 a.m. Hawaii Standard Time) to honor the innocent victims who perished as a result of the terrorist attacks.