President Obama Speaks to Members of Fire Engine 54, Battalion Nine

President Barack Obama talks with firefighters during an unscheduled stop at the Engine 54, Ladder 4, Battalion 9 Firehouse, known as the “Pride of Midtown," in New York, N.Y., May 5, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

President Barack Obama met with members of Fire Engine 54, Battalion Nine on Thursday when he was in town to lay a wreath at Ground Zero. The wreath was laid at the foot of the Survivor Tree, which was badly damaged during the terror attacks but was found beneath a pile of rubble and subsequently replanted and serves as a symbol of the nation’s resiliency. The President did not make a speech and spoke in measured words.

CNN reports that Obama said, “I wanted to just come up here to thank you,” Obama said in prepared remarks, after eating lunch with firefighters and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. “This is a symbolic site of the extraordinary sacrifice that was made on that terrible day almost 10 years ago.”

The president also visited with members of Fire Engine 54, Battalion Nine, which lost 15 men during the attacks. “Obviously we can’t bring back your friends that were lost,” the president said. “I know that each and every one of you not only grieve for them, but have also over the last 10 years dealt with their family.”

What do you think of the Presidents words?