By Ian Christopher McCaleb CNN Washington Bureau
NEW YORK (CNN) -- President Bush arrived on the southern tip of Manhattan on Friday afternoon to see for himself the almost unimaginable devastation meted out upon New York's financial district, when two 767 jetliners slammed into the World Trade Center's landmark twin towers during Tuesday's morning rush.
There, he was greeted by a raucous crowd of const ruction workers and rescue personnel, all of whom seemed recharged by the president's visit after more than three days of backbreaking work, removing chunks of concrete and mangled steel, and looking for survivors.
Grabbing a bullhorn, Bush told the chanting, cheering crowd, "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked down these buildings will hear all of us soon."
"The nation sends its love and compassion to everybody who's here. Thank you for your hard work. Thank you for making the nation proud, and may God bless America," Bush added, raising his arm.
The workers responded with an resounding, energetic chant of "USA, USA!"
The president, wearing a windbreaker, took a helicopter tour of the city's afflicted area, surveying some 10 square blocks of destruction. He was greeted earlier at New Jersey's McGuire Air Force Base by New York Gov. George Pataki and New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who accompanied him on the subsequent helicopter.
A 37-member delegation from Congress followed along in a series of Marine helicopters.
When the chopper convoy touched down in Manhattan, a lengthy presidential convoy snaked its way to ground zero, the area of the city covered with the remains of the trade center's 110-story north and south towers as well as rubble and debris from buildings that subsequently collapsed.
Bush offered a thumbs-up to fire and rescue personnel, shook hands and offered his thanks for their work.
Earlier, the president declared a national state of emergency, signing documents authorizing the Pentagon to call up thousands of reservists.
The New York visit was only the latest event on a day in which the president sought to maintain a high profile, leading the United States in national day of mourning.
Late in the morning, Bush enjoined mourners at Friday's National Day of Prayer and Remembrance service in Washington to remember and honor the thousands slain in Tuesday's unprecedented terror attacks in New York and Washington, and said the United States has been called to a new worldwide mission -- to "rid the world of evil."
"Just three days removed from these events, Americans do not have the distance of history, but our responsibility to history is clear," Bush said, his words echoing through the cavernous granite structure of the Washington National Cathedral. That responsibility, Bush said, is "to answer these attacks, and rid the world of evil."
The president mixed words of comfort and encouragement with ominous passages intended to portray the United States as ready and willing to enter a long campaign against the forces of international terrorism.
"This conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others," he said. "It will end in a way and at an hour of our choosing."
He added later, "Grief and tragedy and hatred are only for a time, But goodness, remembrance and love have no end. The Lord of life holds all who die, and all who mourn."
Speaking of the victims, the president said: "Now come the names, the lists of casualties we are only beginning to read � of people who began their days at a desk or an airport, busy with life.
"They are the names of passengers who defied their murderers and prevented the murder of others of the ground," he said. "They are the names of men and women who wore the uniform of the United States and died at their posts. They are the names of rescuers whom death found running up the stairs to rescue others.
"We offer the deepest sympathies of the nation, and I assure you, you are not alone," the president said to the victims' families and loved ones.
"In this trial we have been reminded, and the world has seen, that our fellow Americans are generous and kind, resourceful and brave. We are freedom's home and defender. The commitment of our fathers is now the calling of our time."
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