As part of the 11th Anniversary of 9/11, Vice President Joe Biden followed up his attendence at a memorial service for Flight 93 with an unannounced stop at the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department.

During his he insisted an aide would call deputy fire chief Brad Shober to arrange a White House visit for the firefighters as a thank you for the support they give to the community.

"This is no malarkey," he said. "You come to the White House. I'll buy you a beer."

Biden suggested the firefighters should book a trip after the November 6 election.

"Win, lose or draw, I'm still going to be vice president in January," he said. "I give you my word. I'm not just saying it."

Across America, families of those affected and members of FDNY, the anniversary was marked in familiar but subdued ceremonies as thousands gathered at the World Trade Center site in New York, the Pentagon and Shanksville to read the names of nearly 3,000 victims killed in the worst terror attack in U.S. history.

As bagpipes played at the year-old Sept. 11 memorial in New York, family clutching balloons, flowers and photos of their loved ones bowed their heads in silence at 8:46 a.m., the moment that the first hijacked jetliner crashed into the trade center's north tower. Bells tolled to mark the moments that planes crashed into the second tower, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field, and the moments that each tower collapsed.

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama observed the moment in a ceremony on the White House's south lawn, and then laid a white floral wreath at the Pentagon, above a concrete slab that said "Sept. 11, 2001 - 937 am." He later recalled the horror of the attacks, declaring, "Our country is safer and our people are resilient."

Watch Vice President Joe Biden speaking to firefighters at the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department:

Posted 13/09/2012 by richard.hook@pavpub.com