By: Erin McClam
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - Two years after the prodigious horror
and grief of Sept. 11, the small voices of children are at
the center of its remembrance, charged with reading the
names of loved ones killed in the attack and joining in
song at ground zero.
Across the nation, the tolling of bells, the laying of wreaths
and, in many places, moments with no words at all were
planned for the second anniversary of the terrorist assault
that killed more than 3,000 people.
In lower Manhattan, at the site where the World Trade Center
once stood, 200 children whose relatives were among the
2,792 who died there were assigned the solemn, careful task
of reading the names of the victims in a morning ceremony.
"I know I'm very proud of my children," said Lynn Morris,
whose husband, Seth Allan Morris, died Sept. 11, 2001,
and whose two children, 11-year-old Madilynn and 9-year-old
Kyle, were to read names. "It's amazing the strength that they
have developed over the years."
The footprint of the trade center's north tower was outlined by
a 4-foot fence draped with banners bearing drawings and
messages painted by children of the victims.
One was a simple red heart with the inscription: "To my Dad,
Steve Chucknick. Your in my heart forever. Love always,
your son Steven."
A chorus of children was also to sing "America the Beautiful,"
The Star-Spangled Banner and a song called "The Prayer."
"We're not going to forget those that were lost, but we're
also not going to let the terrorists beat us,"
Mayor Michael Bloomberg told WABC-TV before the service.
"We're going to be an example, I hope, to the country of how
one can balance mourning with building for the future."
In New York, some remembrances of Sept. 11 started early.
A silent vigil was held Wednesday night at St. Paul's Chapel
and continued into the early hours of Thursday morning.
The chapel, once in the shadow of the trade center, survived
the neighboring complex's destruction and was temporarily
converted into an all-purpose relief center for rescue workers.
Early Thursday, a handful of those who had volunteered two
years ago gathered in and around the chapel. Inside, candles
flickered at the front of the sanctuary and photographs of victims
were spread upon the altar.
Lisa Heller, 34, an elementary school guidance counselor who
said six of her friends died on Sept. 11, sat alone in a pew in
the candlelit sanctuary for about an hour.
"It's a big loss," Heller said. She said healing began on the day
of the attacks, but that "it's been a long two years."
The Rev. Julie Taylor, 33, who volunteered at the chapel two
years ago, said healing is "a process that's going to take our lifetime."
"There's no getting over it, there's just getting through it," she said.
Other people gathered at the fence surrounding the trade center
site, where more than two dozen floral arrangements had been
placed. One woman, Delia Colon, prayed nearby, draped in an
American flag.
"I was here last year on an all-night vigil," Colon said. "I'm here
this year on an all-night vigil. As long as I have breath, I will be here
on an all-night vigil."
At sunrise, about 200 people sat quietly at an ecumenical service
at a small park not far from ground zero as a violin played and
people read poems.
"I was hoping to get a couple minutes to face up to all the
emotions of the day and to continue the process of trying to adjust,"
said Nathaniel Hupert, a 37-year-old public health researcher.
The ground zero ceremony, lasting about 3 1/2 hours, was to
fall silent at the four moments when the terror peaked two years
ago: the time of impact of each plane that flew into the trade
center, and the time of each tower's collapse.
In Washington, President Bush planned to observe 8:46 a.m.,
the moment when American Airlines Flight 11 struck the trade
center's north tower to begin the timed attacks, on the South
Lawn of the White House.
Memorials at other Sept. 11 sites were keyed on each place's
moment of attack. A ceremony at the Pentagon was to include
a moment of silence at 9:37 a.m., when the impact of a jetliner
killed 184 people.
And in southwest Pennsylvania, rural hamlets were to toll bells
to mark the time when the fourth hijacked plane plunged into
a field there, killing the 40 passengers and crew who were later
hailed as heroes for trying to stop more catastrophe.
Elsewhere in the nation, reminders of life,
death and peace were planned.
In Toledo, Ohio, white doves were to be released after the
reading of victims' names. In Massachusetts and Hawaii,
bells were to peal to remember the dead.
Twisted steel taken from the ruins and shipped to other
states for memorials was to be at the center of ceremonies
from North Dakota to Florida to a New Mexico church that
uses two trade center beams as part of its bell tower.
And in Tampa, Fla., motorcycle riders were to raise money
for the families of police, firefighters and U.S. Special
Operations troops who have died in the war on terrorism.
"It helps bring people together, and it helps us feel united,"
spokeswoman Elaine Diaz said.
The ground zero commemoration, similar to last year's, was
to feature readings by Bloomberg,
former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and the governors of New York
and New Jersey.
Giuliani said before the ceremony that he still wakes up at
night thinking about that day.
"It's something that's with you. It's going to be with you for the rest
of your life," he told ABC's "Good Morning America" Thursday.
During the recitation of names during the commemoration,
families of attack victims were to descend a ramp into the
seven-story pit that was the trade center basement and
place flowers on the bedrock.
At sunset, two light beams pointing skyward were to be
switched on, evoking the image of the twin towers in a
reprise of a popular monthlong memorial unveiled in
March 2002.
But the centerpiece of the ground zero remembrance was
the children. Some of the 200 reading names spent the
weeks leading to the anniversary practicing the pronunciations
on their section of the list.
Lynn Morris looked up articles so that Madilynn and Kyle could
match faces to the names. Madilynn was reading 14 names,
finishing with that of her father, who was 35 and worked at
Cantor Fitzgerald in the trade center.
"I thought it would be a good way to honor my dad,"
Madilynn said, "and to honor the other people."
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