By: Sara Kuglar
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - The words came from the president,
from the families of those killed on Sept. 11, from people
who watched the attacks unfold on television.
Again and again on a day of memorials that marked the
first anniversary of the terrorist attacks, Americans
vowed to move on in tribute to the fallen.
"Each of us has had our hearts torn apart, but we can
take those pieces and put them back together,"
Harold Lutnick, the chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald,
said at a service for the firm's 658 employees who died
at the World Trade Center. Lutnick's brother was
among those lost.
"Together we will create something new," he said.
President Bush capped the remembrances Wednesday
night with an address from Ellis Island, using the Statue
of Liberty as a backdrop.
He told a nation still battling terrorism that "a milestone
has passed, and a mission goes on."
Most Americans went to work and school Wednesday,
but it was far from business as usual.
Authorities stayed on alert for another attack. Dust stirred
by a gusty wind swirled around mourners at the trade
center, doves fluttered from a Pennsylvania field and
patriotic songs rang out at the Pentagon. Once evening
fell, candlelight vigils nationwide carried messages of hope.
Silent tributes were held from Maine to Hawaii. Telemarketers
cut back on their phone calls, politicians kept campaign ads
off the air and baseball games paused at 9:11 p.m.
At Yankee Stadium in New York, a memorial inscribed
"We Remember" was unveiled beyond the center field fence.
"Let us live for what they died for - the United States of America,"
Carson Howell, who lost a brother in the Pentagon crash, said on
the steps of the Idaho Capitol.
At the New Mexico State Fair, 46-year-old Keith Powell
remembered the attacks with an American flag shirt.
"It's a sad day, but we have to go on," he said.
Bush presided at the Pentagon ceremony, then flew to
southwest Pennsylvania to help honor the 40 people
killed when United Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville.
The passengers and crew were hailed by Homeland
Security Director Tom Ridge for struggling to take back
their hijacked plane and avert a possible attack on the
Capitol or White House.
"If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that
life is short and there is no time for hate," said Sandy Dahl,
wife of Flight 93 pilot Jason Dahl.
Around the world, some of the most profound moments
came silently as perhaps millions of people paused for
prayer or meditation. After two minutes of silence in
Copenhagen, Denmark, the city's Lord Mayor Jens
Kramer Mikkelsen declared: "We will not allow fear
to overtake us."
At California State University in Fresno, hundreds of
people gathered to plant trees in memory of two former
students who died in the attacks: Navy Lt. Cmdr. Vincent
Tolbert, who died at the Pentagon, and Todd Beamer,
who was aboard Flight 93 and uttered the now-famous
words, "Let's roll."
"My brother-in-law lived life by a motto, 'Live life to its fullest.
I'd rather burn out than fade away.' And that's what he did,"
Laurie Tolbert told the crowd.
A booming rendition of the national anthem set the tone for
morning commemorations at the Pentagon, where 184
people died when American Flight 77 smashed into the
building. U.S. military bases in Afghanistan also held
memorial services.
"There isn't a place I'd rather be or a job I'd rather be doing,"
said Lt. Col. Tim Strasburger, an Air Force pilot on duty
in Kandahar.
At London's St. Paul's Cathedral, 3,000 white rose petals
fluttered down from the dome - one for each victim who
died in the attacks. In Paris, two powerful beams of light
were projected into the sky. In Pisa, Italy, a white banner
placed by the Leaning Tower read: "From the tower to the
towers. Sept. 11, 2002. Memory, solidarity and peace."
Thousands of mourners gathered at the trade center,
clutching pictures of loved ones and placing roses in a
"circle of honor" after a roll call of the dead and missing
that took 2 1/2 hours to complete.
Bush bowed his head before a memorial wreath at ground
zero and spoke quietly with relatives of victims of the attacks.
He and first lady Laura Bush lingered there for hours.
At an evening ceremony, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg
lighted an eternal flame at an interim memorial, saying,
"The memories of those we lost will burn with unending brightness.
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