Obama pays respects at Ground Zero

Marking Osama bin Laden's death where the terrorist inflicted his greatest damage, President Barack Obama soberly laid a wreath at New York's ground zero and declared, "When we say we will never forget, we mean what we say."

The president closed his eyes and clasped his hands at the outdoor memorial where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once dominated the Manhattan skyline. He shook hands with family members of the Sept. 11 victims at the site where the skyscrapers were brought down by planes commandeered by bin Laden's followers. Nearly 3,000 people were killed.

Earlier, the president visited the firefighters and police officers whose response to the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, turned them into heroes and symbols of national resolve, but also cost them heavy casualties on that horrific day.

Months before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, and days after bin Laden was killed in Pakistan by US commandos, Obama's visit was giving New York its own moment of justice.