President Barack Obama will travel to New York City on Thursday to mark the death of Osama bin Laden. While there, he will also honor the victims of the 9/11 attacks and meet with the victims’ families. It will be Obama’s first visit to Ground Zero since he took office in 2008. He marked the last two anniversaries of the terrorist attacks at the Pentagon.

Obama recalled the tragic events of 2001 when he announced late Sunday night that the world’s most-wanted man had been captured and killed.

“The images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory—hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless September sky; the twin towers collapsing to the ground; black smoke billowing up from the Pentagon; the wreckage of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the actions of heroic citizens saved even more heartbreak and destruction,” he said.

Obama’s meeting with the families will also provide an opportunity to make a bit of peace with the 9/11 families. Many were extremely upset with the president last year when he publically supported a proposal to build an Islamic community center near the Ground Zero site.

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