(NewsNation) — Speaking at the Pentagon’s 9/11 memorial on Thursday, President Donald Trump announced he will posthumously award conservative activist Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Trump also promised that Americans would forever remember the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks at the Pentagon’s annual flag ceremony.
“And today, as one nation, we renew our sacred vow that we will never forget September 11,” he said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, second from right, attends a sunrise ceremony at the Pentagon to commemorate the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on Sept. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) 
An American flag is unfurled from the top of the Pentagon at sunrise, Sept. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) 
The Corn Moon rises behind the skyline of lower Manhattan as the Tribute in Light is tested ahead of the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York City on September 8, 2025, as seen from Jersey City, New Jersey. (Getty) 
Flags and flowers are placed in the inscribed names at the National September 11 Memorial in New York on Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Donald King)
The event honored the 184 service members and civilians killed when a jetliner flew into the U.S. military headquarters.
It began at sunrise with the unfurling of the American flag, and continued through the morning with the reading of the victims’ names.
The remembrance event coincided with similar memorials in New York City and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people died during the coordinated attacks.