AUGUSTA — In accordance with a directive of the President, Governor Janet Mills directed Friday morning the United States and State of Maine flags be lowered to half-staff today, Sept. 11, statewide in honor of the victims and survivors of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. 

“Nineteen years ago today, in the wake of an unimaginable attack against our nation, Americans of all backgrounds stood together, united not only in our grief, but in our resolve to persevere,” said Governor Mills. “While terrorists that day took from us our loved ones, including cherished members of our Maine community, they also revealed the unshakable character and strength of the American spirit. Today, as we pause in solemn remembrance of those we lost, and as we pay unending gratitude to our heroic first responders, let us also remember the courage and conviction that carried us through those difficult moments and know that it continues to live on in us all these years later.”