STATEMENT BY DAN COATS ON PATRIOT DAY

INDIANAPOLIS (September 11, 2010) – I was in Germany on September 11, 2001, serving my second day as Ambassador.  Although thousands of miles away from home, my thoughts and prayers were focused on my fellow Americans as the tragic events unfolded in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

On this Patriot Day, we remember the lives of the innocent civilians lost at the World Trade Center, Pentagon and aboard Flight 93. We are eternally grateful to the heroes of Flight 93 who gave what President Lincoln called, the “last full measure of devotion,” to successfully divert that hijacked aircraft from its intended target.

Also on this day, we honor the brave First Responders and members of the United States military who put their lives on the line that September morning, in the days and years that followed, and still today fighting the Global War on Terrorism.

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