people, and we take pride in knowing we are part of something much larger than yours. we choose this monday to show the spirit what boston represents through our deeds and dedications. for those of us who ride and run, we will do so for those who are no longer with you. for those of us who will crowd the route, we'll embrace the motivators and emotional catalyst, and for our guardian angels, let them hear us roar. let's show them they live in our bonds of family, friendship, and community. and the infectious spirit we'll kneel on the third monday in april for years to come. i'm so proud to be a bostonian, because i am so proud to be connected to all of you. [ applause ]

[ clapping ] >> vice president biden, governor patrick, mayor walsh, major menino, survivors, first

responders and distinguished guests - today marks one year from when our lives were changed forever. a change that none of us wanted, nor change we would wish on anyone else. although each of our paths to recovery have been unique and we have all travelled at our own pace, we continue to move forward. today i will not focus on the past, but be mindful of our successes and thank those who helped us take those first steps, reclimb our first mountains and reclaim our lives. to the first responders for running into harm's way and giving us the aid that we needed. to the doctors, surgeons and their staffs, who completely gave of themselves to ensure that our most severely injured were given a chance to live again. to all law enforcement agencies

who worked tirelessly and quickly to make our city safe again. to the councillors and physiotherapists who support us emotionally: to the boston club, those that gave us the strength to recognise a new beginning and the hope of tomorrow. thank you for your love, compassion and generosity. you have touched our hearts in a way that many times our gratitude could only be expressed though our tears of joy. [ applause ] >> governor patrick and mayor menino thank you for yore leadership through a dark

moment. you are both symbols of strength and compaugs. during the erty days you gave us the opportunity to mourn, and grieve in private. through the creation of the one fund you provided critical and much-needed financial support. barbara thorpe, laurie van dam and the one fund staff, thank you for you commitment to survivors and families. you've been proactive in participating our needs and are completely devoted to each and eve every one of us on a personal level. to the survivo, although your journey has not been easy and the road is still long, your inner strength, determination and resolve displayed during the past 12 months have made you an inspiration to many. each step forward is a step away from the past and a step towards a new tomorrow.

thank you all for exemp leifying theifiest qualities in mankind and blows those that lost their lives as a result of this tragic event. be proud of what you have accomplished. be proud that you have decided to take control of your life, and chosen to live, and know that each of you is making a difference in the lives of others. in the words of our president barack obama a year ago stated that even when our heart aches, we summon the strength that maybe we didn't even know we had, we carry on and we finish the race. we finish the race, and we do that because of who we are, and we do that because we know that someone around the bend, a stranger, has a cup of water. around the bend someone's there to boost our spirits, and on that toughest mile, just when we think we have hit a wall, there'll be someone there to cheer us on and pick us up if we

fall. and this day next year on the third monday, the world will return to this beautiful american city to run harder than ever, to cheer louder than before, for the 118th marathon and bet on it. barack obama was right. here we are one year later. we are all boston strong, and see you on monday. [ applause ] >> hello. good afternoon. one year ago my husband major adam davis had just

returned from afghan where he was fighting the war on terror, uninjured. we took a long walk into sunny boston and in a matter of seconds our world was changed forever. it is difficult to believe it is only been one year. it feels like only a few weeks, and we have a long road yet to walk. i stand here today as a proud bostonian, although adam and i just moved to boston three short years ago. the city was stood by us, supported us and helped us heal. together we held each other in the face of terror, we grieved in the face of tremendous loss and we grew in the face of adversity. our survivor community is not something any of us have chosen to be a part of, yet we are just that, a community. there were many moments we could have not made it through, had it not been for one another.

we find peace in providing a shoulder to cry on, a warm embrace and a hand to hold in a crowd. we know just by eye contact what the other is feeling. i am thankful for our friendships. and as i look back on this past year, i think of the lessons that we have learnt, and have had to relearn, that no milestone is too small to celebrate. even walking into a non-handicap bathroom stall for the first time, doing a happy dance. [ clapping ] >> it's the little things. i also learnt that moods are contamingous. our community, our city, our first responders, our surgeons, our physical and mental therapists would not and will not let us fail, and their unwavering devotion to strength is why we stand her boston

strong today. i have also learnt that it is okay to not be okay, that we still have to let ourselves grieve. we can stay in bid even, for a few days. yet it is that boston strong attitude that gets us back out, and when we cannot find the strength to do it ourselves, we have those around us that lift us backs up. my wish, if i were allowed to grand -- grant one is that we use that day not just as a day of remembrance, but a day of action. i wish everywhere that faced adversity has the support we have had. if anyone wonders what they can do, what we can do i answer look around. people in your community need your support. they need your patience and your time in dealing with similar situations such as ours. let april 15th be a day when we all work together to make this world a better place. the biggest lessen of all the

lessons i have learnt over the past year is having in your life, in anyone's life can go horrifically, terribly wrong in a matter of seconds. yet it is up to us to make every single second count after, because believe me, they do. thank you. [ applause ] >> you're listening to al jazeera boston, one year later, three dead, 260 others injured, one died later.

we'll take a break and be right back. ♪ i've heard it said ♪ that people come into our lives ♪ ♪ for a reason... ♪ for a reason... ♪ [ grunting ]

i'm taking off, but, uh, don't worry. i'm gonna leave the tv on for you. and if anything happens, don't forget about the new xfinity my account app. you can troubleshoot technical issues here. if you make an appointment, you can check out the status here. you can pay the bill, too.

but don't worry about that right now. okay. how do i look? ♪ thanks. [ male announcer ] troubleshoot, manage appointments, and bill pay from your phone. introducing the xfinity my account app. [ ♪ music ] ♪ i do believe i have been changed ♪ ♪ for the better... >> this is al jazeera america's continued coverage of the boston commemoration, commemorating the boston bombings one year ago. three people died, 260 others were injured. this is renice king

♪ i have been changed ♪ for good [ applause ] >> i'm del walters in new york. erica pitzi, a boston native with me in the studio. the current mayor of boston getti getting ready to speak. this has been an emotional day. >> absolutely, that song, talking about being changed for good. some of the survivors told me this past year was the best of their lives because of all the support they had over the past year, getting over this terrible and tragic event. >> it says in the book of james the testing of our face produces perseverance. perseverance. we have learnt that in boston

over this past year. all of us. we have felt it. we have seen it. we have shared it. fort families who lost loved ones, for those recovering from injury of every kind, it's what life is all about now. it's about dancing again after losing a leg. it's about starting a marriage forged in tragedy. it's about learning early on to care for family and friends. the testing of our faith produces perseverance. is there a tougher test of face for a parent than the loss of a child, or seeing your child badly hurt while you fight pain and injury yourself. our friends, on this day of remembrance i start at the heart of the dorchester community where i was a kid, where martin richard was a kid. the other day i came across some

photos from a neighbourhood photo a few years book. one picture stopped me cold. there i was with friend, my arm around a little boy, holding him close. he wore a georges t-shirt and a snail that could light the family apart. the little boy was martin richard. bill and denise, his parents, said recently a day doesn't pass we don't cry over the loss of martin, but we laugh when we think about him, which feels the right way to remember a little boy with a zest for life, and a caring heart. in a few days the little league will open its season. martin played in the league with enthusiasm and joy. i was a coach in that league watching kids like martin gain skill and confidence and understanding the importance of the never giving up. martin's older brother henry gets that. he's an exceptional student.

a good athlete a great kid,als willing to help. he's the kind of kid you want your kids to be friends with. so is sister jane. now they are teaching us a thing or two about never giving up. by the way, you didn't hear it from me, but jane is back playing basketball again. [ clapping ] >> >> martin would have loved that. the way he saw the world, anything was possible. all across our city we are learning that too. we are learning not just perseverance, but resilience, resilience and hope. the psalm we may weep at night, but joy comes in the morning. we enjoy the night, violence came to the city, and it felt

like we knew everyone who was hurt, everyone who was suffering. we hurt too, and that hurt falls familiar routes down the red line in dorchester, out couple after bu. up 93 and somer ford and met ford and down to mrt. our grief drew us a painful map. in the darkest hour of that night we looked to our first responders, who are always our beacon of hope, courage and heart. we saw police officers, firefighters, emts running towards danger, as they always do, as they always will. we saw medical staff and daa volunteers tending to the injured. we saw businesses on the street sheltering the traumatised, and our public employees from the city of boston rushing to find resources. we saw people who had come to cheer on the runners, instead running themselves to save the

lives of perfect strangers. as the day went on, and we learnt who we had lost, we saw that their lives told us a story of our city. lindsay lu was drawn here from halfway around the world to study, learn and explore. crystal campbell was always the last to leave work, but she was always there when her grandmother needed her. shaun collier was doing what he always wanted to do, building a career as a police officer, devoted to community. >> and martin richard was a little neighbourhood kid with a big smile and an even bigger heart. together they showed us the qualities of our city, that would carry us through. and to the survivors, we have all witnessed what you have experienced. we gained strength from your courage, and we felt hope for our future. and we came together as a city.

within 24 hours, leaders in government, business and philanthropy formed the one fund. thousand gathered in dorchester filling the park with candles and prayers. help came from across the world. people reached out to us in solidarity offering messages of healing and hope. and next week thousands of runners and millions of our friends from around the world will come to boston, the 118th boston marathon will be a living breathing celebration of our city's resilience. we still hurt, we hurt from trauma, we hurt from grief, we hurt from loss. we hurt when violence hits our streets anywhere and everywhere in our city and our kids become victims. we hurt now as we mourn the loss of two boston firefighters, their fire house, engine 33, ladder 15 is a company of

heroes. and just last week another hero lost. a young boston police officer injured at the scene in water town a year ago, honoured for his bravery is suddenly gone. we hurt when brave first responders give of their all. weeping through the night, but joy comes in the morning. after a dark night and a bitter winter spring is here. the snow is gone, red sox are back and in a week the runners will be to. running for lindsay, and others, running for boston, and america. we will never be the same, but we are stronger than ever. we have been tested and tested again. but we face the hurts with a new understanding of our strength. we have survived the dark night to face the future with hope and confidence. in the joy of the morning we can believe, as martin did, as

lindsay did, as crystal and shaun did, as so many bovt ownians do, we can believe anything is possible, and then we work our heart out to do it. this is boston. a city of champions, of home and heart. god bless you, the city of boston, and the united states of america. [ applause ]

[ applause ] >> mr vice president, mayor walsh, major thomas menino, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters. none of us at this podium could possibly add to the testimony of the survivors who have spoken today. i'm just glad to be here with them and with all of you. i'm glad to join in the remembrance of crystal, and lindsay and martin and shaun. i'm glad to share in acknowledging and supporting the families who survived them, and the other survivors - many here, and some not yet ready to be here, who still hurt from this tragedy and yet inspire us with their determination. i'm glad for the chance to honour and thank again the first responders, and medical professionals and volunteers who cared for and comforted those hurt, and the law enforcement officials who meticulously and

notedicly work to -- meth oddicly work to solve the crime. i'm glad to be here with mayor walsh and thomas menino, who put the emphasis on support not political throughout the week. i'm glad to have this tragedy behind us and the next marathon ahead of us. i'm glad to share in the triumph of our community's response to this. as i see it boston strong is about the triumph of community itself. over and over again these last several years, we have emphasised the importance of building community, of seeing our stake in our neighbour's dreams and struggles as well as our own. staening such -- sustaining such sentiments is tough in the face of crushing cynicism prevalent in modern culture.

yet for me the thing we witnessed in the aftermath of that vicious attack last year, and that i submit we are here today to celebrate is precisely that assistance of community. that enduring and transcendent display you and so many others showed last year. there are no strangers here. in the days and weeks after the marathon last year we were reminded how few degrees of separation there are, in fact, between us. i think of the young lawyer on my own staff who finished the route equal didn't between the first and the second blasts, or the friends who left the finish line minutes before the first explosion because their small children needed a nap, or the friend who didn't. there are no strangers here. i see nurses and doctors in

elevators and at the cvs who i met on their third shift a year although, caring for the injured. our daughter katherine was walking towards boyston street when the first bomb went off. i carry in my pocket the photograph of martin richard holding a campaign sign for me when i ran for major. the day after the bombings i visited with karen rand. her boyfriend and his brother in the hospital, as she waited to learn whether doctors could save her leg. i did what i could do encourage and support her, and she reminded me that we had met two summers before on shelter island. last summer when the street in chicago where i was born and raised for me, who should roll up in here wheelchair to support me, but the same karen rand. there are no strangers here.

we are not strangers. we are all connected to each other, to events beyond our control, to a common destiny. we share the same fears, the same hopes, the same community. we are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, dr king used to say, tied in a single garment of destiny. whatever effects one directly affects all indirectly. we are not strangers. we are, in the end, one community. i hope we hold tight to that. i hope that as we remember the dead and encourage the injured, we remember community. i hope that as we remember the courage of the first responders, we remember community. i hope that as we thank the medical teams, and the public

officials, we remember community, because it all adds up to an enduring example of the power of common cause and of working together and turning to each other when we could have easily turned on each other. indeed, the power of love itself. that's what a community is. and i am so, so proud to be a part of this. god bless you all. thank you. [ clapping ] [ applause ] >> that is massachusetts governor patrick. this is our special coverage on al jazeera. boston, one year later. one year ago, april 15th, the boston marathon taking place. and then at the end of the race event came to a tragicened. when it was over three dead, 260 wounded. our special coverage continues,

we'll take a short break and be right