Back home in Minnesota, Walz recalls short burst of national 'unity' after 9/11

ST. PAUL, Minnesota — Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz reminisced about national unity and did some volunteer work at a local food packing event in his home state of Minnesota to commemorate the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that defined the opening of the 21st century.

More: Kamala Harris, Donald Trump meet again, shake hands at 9/11 memorial service

Walz, a two term governor of Minnesota, recalled how he heard for the first time about the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania while he was teaching a high school geography class.

"I remember that morning very clearly, but I remember the mornings after that, on the streets I had never seen an America flag before, but they started to come out, and people who hadn't talked that much together started talking together," Walz told a sold-out crowd at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium.

"It may not have lasted as long as we'd liked, but there was a moment of unity about caring for one another," added Walz, the 60-year-old whom Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris picked earlier this summer to be her running mate.

Walz also helped volunteers package meals for the federally-recognized 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance that seeks to promote community service in commemoration of the terrorist attacks.

"It's in the time of need that we become our very best, it's in the time of trauma that we rise on the occasion," he said.

While Walz made his home-state stop, Harris joined President Joe Biden , former President Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance , R-Oh., during a ceremony at the site of the former World Trade Center twin towers in Lower Manhattan that were struck by a pair of hijacked airplanes before both collapsed.

Walz's month of campaigning to be Harris' No. 2 has been full of cross-country trips to battleground states, including his first solo trip to Arizona earlier this week and plans to visit Wisconsin on Friday. His appearance Wednesday was his first official gubernatorial event in Minnesota since being chosen in early August as Harris' running mate.

The governor was not available for questions from the press.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Back home in Minnesota, Walz recalls short burst of national 'unity' after 9/11