The President visited Ground Zero today, laying a wreath dedicated to the thousands who lost their lives on September 11 2001.
In a private ceremony, Barack Obama spoke with relatives of those who lost their lives as well as fire fighters and policemen caught up in the tragedy.
The President kept the ceremony deliberately low key in a bid to fend off accusations he was revelling in the death of Osama Bin Laden on Sunday.
In a separate development, it emerged today that Obama will visit Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to personally thank the Navy SEAL commandos who killed Bin Laden.
Fort Campbell is home to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, who it is thought flew the SEAL teams to Bin Laden's Abbottabad compound.
According to a White House official, Obama has already met with Vice Admiral William McRaven, thought to be the man in charge of the Bin Laden raid.
The president bowed his head in silent tribute today, standing just yards from where the twin towers of the World Trade Centre once dominated the Manhattan skyline.
He shook hands with September 11 family members and others dressed in black at the site where the skyscrapers were brought down by planes commandeered by bin Laden's followers.
There was heavy security, but New Yorkers still turned out by the hundreds to gather just southeast of the World Trade Centre site and line the roads to watch the president's motorcades.
New York City police tackled a man to the ground, pointing a gun at his head after he yelled 'Secret Service, coming through' in order to get past throngs of onlookers as President Barack Obama made a visit to ground zero.
Officers believed he was acting suspiciously. They emptied his messenger bag, then brought him inside a post office located steps from the trade centre site, before releasing him shortly afterwards.
There were happy faces and flags waved in the crowd though they were cordoned off blocks from where the president entered the ground zero site.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who led the city in dark days after the attacks, joined Obama during the day.
Obama began his tour of New York by visiting fire fighters who lost colleagues when the World Trade Centre towers fell.
In a private meeting, Barack Obama had lunch with the men of engine company 54 - known as the 'Pride of Midtown' - who lost 15 of their colleagues on September 11.
The visit is Obama's first visit to ground Zero as President.
Obama ate a lunch of eggplant parmigiana with the fire fighters before moving to Ground Zero for his wreath laying ceremony.
There was tight security around the fire house, with extraordinary scenes as tens of city sanitation trucks formed a ring of steel around the block.
Inside the fire house, the President gave an informal speech in which he praised the men of Engine 54 saying: 'This is a symbolic site of extraordinary sacrifice which was made on that terrible day.
'What happened on Sunday sent a message around the world that when we say we will never forget, we mean what we say.'
Chief of fire house Edward Kilduff said afterwards: 'The president was kind enough to visit our fire house today.
'I think the president connected well with the firefighters for what they did on September 11.
'It was a wonderful lunch, a very informal lunch, there was a little bantering back and forth , while at the same time remembering that the military and families continue to make sacrifices.'
When asked what they talked about, Chief Kilduff joked: 'A little bit of Yankees, a little bit of Mets and little bit of Red Sox.'
Between the station's 15 victims, 28 children lost parents on 9/11.
Speaking to the New York Daily News, a highly placed Bush insider said: 'He doesn't feel personally snubbed and appreciates the invitation, but Obama's claiming all the credit and a lot of other people deserve some of it.
'Obama gave no credit whatsoever to the intelligence infrastructure the Bush administration set up that is being hailed from the left and right as setting in motion the operation that got Bin Laden.
'It rubbed Bush the wrong way.'
While the President spoke privately to the families of those affected on 9/11, Vice President Joe Biden greeted relatives and first responders at the Pentagon today.
It was confirmed this week that Obama will mark the tenth anniversary of 9/11 in New York City at the formal opening of the national memorial to the nearly 3,000 people who died in the terrorist attacks.
Until now Obama has spent the anniversary at the Pentagon, with Biden leading ceremonies at Ground Zero.
The bustling construction site that Obama visited bears little resemblance to the pit that remained after the rubble of the towers was removed.
The emerging skyscraper informally known as Freedom Tower is more than 60 stories high now. Mammoth fountains and reflecting pools mark the footprints of the fallen twin towers.
The President has steered clear of even mentioning the Bush team's efforts to capture Bin Laden, only hinting at the previous administration when he said: 'Over the last 10 years, thanks to the tireless and heroic work of our military and our counter-terrorism professionals, we've made great strides.'
Bush was name checked only once during Sunday night's historic speech, when he added: 'I've made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam.'
Obama had invited Bush to today's ceremony, a gesture Bush turned down.
Speaking to the paper, another source said Bush felt the invitation: 'was for the benefit of Obama, and Obama withheld credit from people Bush believes deserved it.'
The President is due in New York City today after sharply rejecting calls for him to release photos of a slain bin Laden so the world could see some proof of death.
The President said he would not risk giving propaganda to extremists or gloat by publicising grotesque photos of a terrorist leader shot in the head.
Obama's New York visit is intended to have a measured tone compared to George Bush's famous bullhorn speech in the days after 9/11.
Standing amid the rubble, the Bush speech has become an iconic picture in the 'war on terror'.
When one worker yelled, 'I can't hear you,' the president responded: 'I can hear you, The rest of the world hears you, And the people — and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.'
All these years later, Obama said this is no time for gloating. 'We don't need to spike the football,' he said as he told CBS he would keep bin Laden's death photos sealed.
White House spokesman Jay Carney called today's visit by the President a, 'cathartic moment for the American people.'
Obama does not even have scheduled remarks during his trip.
Yet it is likely Obama will make comments during his time at the 9/11 memorial, where he will lay a wreath.
Jim Riches, whose firefighter son was among the nearly 3,000 people killed at the World Trade Center, planned to meet with the president on Thursday.
'I just want to thank him, hug him and thank him and shake his hand," Riches said. "Father to father. Thank you for doing this for me.'
The White House said Obama will meet privately with families of those killed in the attacks and with the emergency workers who rushed to help.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-meet-SEAL-heroes-honouring-9-11-victims.html
