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First 9/11 memorial stop for President Obama: A firehouse that lost 15 of its finest nearly a decade ago.

“When we say we will never forget, we mean what we say,” Obama told firefighters while discussing the weekend raid that killed 9/11 organizer Osama bin Laden.

Located in midtown at 48th Street and Eighth Avenue, the “Pride of Midtown Firehouse” — one of the busiest in the world — was one of the first responders to the Sept. 11, 2001, airplane attack on the World Trade Center.

After arriving to the applause of nearby crowd, Obama greeted each member of the company and then stopped to examine a plaque bearing the names of those who gave their lives on 9/11.

“This is a symbolic site of the extraordinary sacrifice that was made on that terrible day,” Obama told company members.

“I wanted to come here to thank you,” Obama said.

The president then went in to lunch with crew now assigned to Engine Company 54, Ladder 4, Battalion 9. The president joked that he also visited the firehouse because “I hear the food was pretty good.”

Obama is scheduled to lay a wreath at Ground Zero itself around 1:25 p.m.

Spokesman Jay Carney said Obama wanted to visit the city in the wake of bin Laden’s death “in order to recognize the terrible loss that New York suffered on 9/11 and to acknowledge the burden that families of the victims and the loved ones of the victims have been carrying with them since 9/11.”

After a short plane ride from Washington, Obama choppered to a landing zone near Wall Street shortly after 11 a.m., with two limos and a pair of firetrucks waiting.

Also on hand to greet Obama: Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Source: <a href=”http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/05/obama-at-ground-zero-a-time-for-remembrance/1″>USAToday.com</a&gt;