U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in New York Thursday to lay a wreath at Ground Zero, as he sought to comfort those whose loved ones perished in the devastating Sept. 11 attacks.
Obama did not speak publicly when he was at Ground Zero, choosing to keep the focus on the families who had gathered at the site.
He met with surviving families one at a time, and he closed his eyes and clasped his hands when standing at the outdoor memorial where the World Trade Center towers once stood.
Obama met privately with the firefighters at Engine 54 Firehouse, which suffered the heaviest losses on September 11, 2001 – 15 men from that firehouse died that day.
"I could see the president was clearly touched by the sacrifices we made," fire chief Edward Kilduff said.
It has been less than a week since Obama announced that Osama bin Laden had been killed by U.S. commandos, during a daring raid in Pakistan.
The sudden news of bin Laden's death has been met with jubilation by many Americans, who have watched their country become embroiled in a costly war on terror that was precipitated by the traumatic Sept. 11 attacks.
Ahead of Obama's arrival, 38-year-old Deanne McDonald stood at the northeast corner of the World Trade Center site waving two American flags, and shouting "Obama got Osama! Obama got Osama!"
McDonald said she took the day off work, so that she could be present for Obama's visit the site.
"I'm so proud of the president," she said. "It happened on his watch."
For the surviving families of those killed on Sept. 11, the death of bin Laden will not bring back their loved ones, but it may give them solace that their government did not give up its efforts to bring justice to them.
Jim Riches, the father of a firefighter who died at the World Trade Center, hoped to meet with the U.S. president on Thursday.
"I just want to thank him, hug him and thank him and shake his hand," Riches said in advance of Obama's arrival in New York.
"Father to father. Thank you for doing this for me."
George W. Bush, who served as U.S. president at the time of the Sept. 11 attacks, was been invited to join Obama in New York on Thursday, but he declined the invitation.
His wife, Laura Bush, said Thursday that her husband wishes to stay out of politics and the public eye.
Prior to his visit to Ground Zero, Obama visited a New York fire hall that lost 15 members in the Sept. 11 attacks.
"This is a symbolic site of the extraordinary sacrifice that was made on that terrible day," Obama said Thursday.
Obama also said revelation that the United States tracked down and killed Osama bin Laden is proof to the world that "when we say we will never forget, we mean what we say."
For nearly 10 years, the United States worked tirelessly to find bin Laden, the notorious al Qaeda leader who helped plan the Sept. 11 attacks that claimed lives in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
But Bin Laden was highly successful at eluding the grasp of the U.S. for many years -- until the CIA tracked him to a fortified compound in Pakistan in recent months and Obama made the eventual decision to strike.
On Sunday, a team of naval commandos flew into Pakistan on helicopters and raided the compound where bin Laden was hiding. The terror leader was shot in the head, after which U.S. forces took custody of his body and buried him at sea.
The U.S. has been under pressure to release photos proving bin Laden's death, but the White House has decided to keep them out of the public domain.
While skeptics have voiced doubts that bin Laden is actually dead, Obama has promised the public that "you will not see bin Laden walking on this Earth again."
Brennan Basnicki, the son of a Canadian man who died in the attacks, said that while the U.S. raid in Pakistan was commendable, the threat of terrorism does not end with bin Laden's death.
"I can tell you that we definitely weren't celebrating by any means. We found comfort knowing that the leader of al Qaeda would no longer be around," Basnicki told Â鶹´«Ã½ Channel from Toronto on Thursday.
"However, the reality is that terrorism still is present, it always will be present."
With files from The Associated Press
