By: Ron Fournier
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - With words of comfort and resolve,
President Bush joined the nation Wednesday in remembering
"a year of sorrow, of empty places" since the terrorist attacks
that drew America into war. However resourceful the enemy,
he said, a greater force is facing them down.
Lingering in the cavernous pit known as ground zero in
New York, Bush embraced fathers and sons, kissed mothers
and daughters and wives of the more than 2,800 people killed
there last Sept. 11 after hijacked airliners sliced through
New York's World Trade Center.
"For those who lost loved ones, it has been a year of sorrow,
of empty places, of newborn children who will never know
their fathers here on earth," Bush said in prepared remarks
to the nation later Wednesday.
"For members of our military, it has been a year of sacrifice,
and service far from home. For all Americans, it has been
a year of adjustment - of coming to terms with the difficult
knowledge that our nation has determined enemies, and
that we are not invulnerable to their attacks."
The emotional return to New York was his final stop in a
daylong tour of the three sites scarred by terrorism, a rebuilt
and now unblemished Pentagon, a field of golden grass in
Pennsylvania and the dusty pit where the twin towers
once soared.
Bush carried with him the Port Authority Police Department
badge No. 1012 that belonged to officer George Howard,
who died when he rushed to the twin towers last year even
though Sept. 11, 2001 was his day off.
"The enemies who struck us are determined," he said at a
ceremony outside the Pentagon. "They will not be stopped
by a sense of decency or conscience, but they will be stopped."
Keeping a schedule busy with symbols and solace, Bush
was addressing the nation at 9:01 EDT from Ellis Island,
his backdrops the Statue of Liberty and a New York
skyline absent the World Trade Center's gleaming towers.
First, the president laid a wreath in the Shanksville, Pa.,
field where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed. Several of its
passengers are believed to have rushed the cockpit to
prevent terrorists from slamming the plane into a Washington
monument, most likely the Capitol or the White House.
Many White House officials believe their lives were saved
by the heroic act, and they gathered with Bush for a silent
tribute in the field rimmed by rolling hills. The president met
privately with dozens of family members, the soft voices of
a military choir consecrating the landscape.
"In every turn of this war, we will always remember how it
began, and who fell first - the thousands who went to work,
boarded a plane or reported to their post," Bush said at the
Pentagon. "The nation pays our respects to them.
Here and in Pennsylvania and in New York, we honor
each name, each life."
A total of 125 people inside the Pentagon, 59 passengers
and crew and five hijackers died after the plane opened
a gaping hole in the building's west wall.
In the audience, Pentagon secretary Dorothy Powell
summed up the feelings of many: "I still can't get over
that this actually happened in America."
At each of Bush's stops, the sky was clear and blue,
the weather mild - just as it was a year ago when
terrorists shattered the peace.
Washington feared another attack Wednesday.
One day after Bush put the nation on high alert,
Vice President Dick Cheney was at an undisclosed
location, armed anti-aircraft missiles were deployed
around the nation's capital and military aircraft patrolled
the skies over a dozen cities as the government paused
in solemn tribute.
Church bells tolled throughout the capital city at 8:46 a.m.
EDT, the moment the first hijacked airliner struck the
World Trade Center. Bush joined his staff outside the
White House for a moment of silence.
Members of Congress gathered on the Capitol steps to sing
"God Bless America" as they had one year ago in a
spontaneous demonstration of the nation's resolve.
Later, the president visited the Pentagon, his eyes
moistening as he joined a crowd of 13,500 in the
Pledge of Allegiance.
"What happened to our nation on a September day set
in motion the first great struggle of the century," he said.
The grim-faced Bush was joined by members of his Cabinet,
congressional leaders, beribboned military officers and a
crowd of several thousand for a ceremony that was part
memorial to the dead, part celebration of the rapidly rebuilt
military headquarters, and part rallying cry to a military already
battling al-Qaida terrorists and preparing for possible action
against Iraq's Saddam Hussein.
"We fight as Americans have always fought, not just for
ourselves but for the security of our friends and for
peace in the world."
Bush did not mention Saddam nor the trouble he's had in
persuading allies to confront the Iraqi leader. That will wait
for Thursday, when aides say he will urge the United Nations
to dismantle Saddam's weapons of mass destruction program
or stand aside and let the United States do it.
The roar of four F-16 fighter jets overhead punctuated the
ceremony on cue. Adding an unwelcome distraction, plane
engines growled throughout the ceremony; the aircraft were
either commercial airliners or fighter jets protecting against
another strike.
At every stop, security was tighter than usual around Bush
the day after he raised the threat level from code yellow
"significant risk" of attack - to code orange - a "high risk."
Also in Washington:
CIA Director George J. Tenet commended his workers and
reflected on the difficulty of their job. "Despite exceptional
efforts as an agency and a community, we did not stop the
hands of hatred that day from acting on their savage plans."
Some two dozen religious leaders told National Cathedral
worshippers that America's response to Sept. 11 inspired
the world. "It made us proud to be human,"
said Bishop Desmond Tutu.
Several hundred union members gathered at AFL-CIO headquarters
near the White House to honor the 635 members killed last year.
"We have to recommit ourselves to the work shared by so many
of those who died," said AFL-COP President John Sweeney.
The president's day began shortly after dawn at the yellow-steepled
St. John's Church near the White House where the Rev. Luis Leon
said terrorists "may have bloodied us, but they did not break us."
Bush slowly nodded.
After Leon offered a prayer for the president's safety and wisdom,
Bush silently mouthed a "Thank you."
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