Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance, 2024

Proclamation 10807 of September 10, 2024

Patriot Day and National Day of Service and
Remembrance, 2024

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Today, we honor the brave Americans who met the terror
of September 11 with extraordinary acts of courage and
sacrifice. In our darkest hour--when terrorists
believed they could bring our country to its knees--
those Americans proved that our Nation's unbreakable
spirit would prevail.

In the moments, days, and years after the attacks on
September 11, heroes were forged. Firefighters, police
officers, and first responders ran into the inferno of
jet fuel and debris at Ground Zero, risking their own
lives to save the lives of others. Service members and
civilians rushed into the fiery breach at the Pentagon
again and again to rescue their colleagues. The
patriotic passengers of Flight 93 made the ultimate
sacrifice to prevent their plane from being used to
take more innocent souls. And in big cities, rural
towns, suburbs, and Tribal communities, hundreds of
thousands of American hands went up--ready to serve our
Nation in uniform.

We owe these patriots of the 9/11 Generation a debt of
gratitude that we can never fully repay. They were
deployed to Afghanistan to make sure the United States
would not be attacked again. They served in Iraq and
other war zones to defend our democracy and deny
terrorists safe haven. They followed Osama bin Laden to
the ends of the Earth and ultimately sent him to the
gates of hell. And 2 years ago, we made sure his deputy
met the same fate.

The First Lady and I hold all those whose loved ones
gave their last full measure of devotion in this fight
close in our hearts. And we will never stop working to
fulfill our country's sacred obligation to them and
every military and veteran family, caregiver, and
survivor: to properly prepare and equip those we send
into harm's way and to care for them and their families
when they return home--and when they do not.

Over the last 23 years, what was destroyed, we have
repaired. What was threatened, we have fortified. What
was attacked--the indomitable American spirit--
prevailed. That is who we are. That is the soul of our
Nation. There is nothing we cannot accomplish when we
defend with all our hearts that which makes us unique
in the world: our democracy. That is what the heroes
and patriots of 9/11 did. And that is what we must all
continue to do today.

To observe this day with service, find opportunities to
volunteer in your community at americorps.gov/911-day.

By a joint resolution approved December 18, 2001
(Public Law 107-89), the Congress has designated
September 11 of each year as ``Patriot Day,'' and by
Public Law 111-13, approved April 21, 2009, the
Congress has requested the observance of September 11
as an annually recognized ``National Day of Service and
Remembrance.''

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, do hereby proclaim
September 11, 2024, as Patriot Day and National Day of
Service and Remembrance. I call upon all departments,

agencies, and instrumentalities of the United States to
display the flag of the United States at half-staff on
Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance
in honor of the individuals who lost their lives on
September 11, 2001. I invite the Governors of the
United States and its Territories and interested
organizations and individuals to join in this
observance. I call upon the people of the United States
to participate in community service in honor of those
our Nation lost, to observe this day with appropriate
ceremonies and activities, including remembrance
services, and to observe a moment of silence beginning
at 8:46 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time to honor the
innocent victims who perished as a result of the
terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
tenth day of September, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
ninth.