By: Erin McClam
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - The voices of children marked the
profound horror and grief of Sept. 11, joining in song at
ground zero Thursday and reading the names of 2,792
loved ones who died there exactly two years ago.
Across the nation, bells tolled, firefighters stood at
attention, and in many places, moments with no words
at all were held for the second anniversary of the terrorist
assault that killed more than 3,000 people.
On the White House lawn, President Bush bowed his
head in silence at 8:46 a.m., the moment that the first
terrorist-hijacked plane struck the World Trade Center.
He left the lawn without speaking, but earlier, he
described his thoughts after a morning church service.
"We remember the lives lost," Bush said. "We remember
the heroic deeds. We remember the compassion,
the decency of our fellow citizens on that terrible day.
"We pray for the husbands and wives, the moms and
dads and the sons and daughters and loved ones ...
we pray for strength and wisdom."
Two hundred children and young adults, each of whom
lost a relative in the most devastating terrorist assault in
U.S. history, approached the microphones in pairs and
began reading the names as hundreds of victims' relatives
listened. Many in the crowd hugged one another and prayed.
"I love you, Daddy. I miss you a lot. Richard Anthony Aceto,"
Christina Marie Aceto, 12, said as she read her father's
name aloud.
Two bagpipers and a drummer opened the ceremony,
marching onto the site of the World Trade Center with an
American flag that once flew over its ruins. A children's
choir sang The Star-Spangled Banner.
Minutes later, the anniversary ceremony at ground
zero paused for a moment of silence - the first of four
commemorating the times when each jetliner crashed
into a tower and when each skyscraper collapsed.
"We come here to honor those that we lost, and to
remember this day with sorrow,"
said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld presided
over a somber ceremony at the Pentagon and attended
a wreath-laying ceremony at nearby Arlington National Cemetery.
Solicitor General Ted Olson, whose wife, Barbara, died in
the attack, told Justice Department employees that an
unrelenting fight against terrorism is the best way to honor
the memory of those who perished.
"Their suffering and deaths must fuel our dedication
to stamp out this cancer," Olson said.
In rural Pennsylvania, church bells began tolling solemnly
shortly after 10 a.m., marking the moment hijacked Flight 93
crashed in a field near Shanksville as passengers tried to
fight off their hijackers. The plane was believed to be
headed to the nation's capital.
In New York, families began arriving at the
World Trade Center site well before the ceremony,
many wearing ribbons of white or black, symbolizing
mourning, or yellow, for hope. They carried flowers,
daisies, petunias and roses to leave on the bedrock
during the ceremony.
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."
As the children carried out the solemn, careful task of
reading the names of the victims, in breaks, Bloomberg
and other dignitaries read poems and inspirational quotations.
The readings took 2 1/2 hours, and two trumpeters
blew taps in a sad postscript.
Some of the victims' family members knelt to touch the
trade center's bedrock during the ceremony, and a few
scooped up handfuls of dirt. As the names were read,
some held cell phones up so others unable to attend
could hear.
"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 reading names. "It's amazing
the strength that they have developed over the years."
A silent vigil began Wednesday night in New York at
St. Paul's Chapel, once in the shadow of the trade center.
"There's no getting over it; there's just getting through it,"
said the Rev. Julie Taylor, 33.
At sunrise, about 200 people sat quietly at an ecumenical
service at a small park not far from ground zero that included
a violinist, readings of poems and songs by a children's choir.
"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, 37, a public
health researcher.
At sunset, over the site where the World Trade Center
once stood, 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.
Elsewhere in the nation, reminders of life, death and
peace commemorated the day.
Twisted steel taken from the ruins and shipped to other
states for memorials was 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.
In Toledo, Ohio, the mayor's wife people began reading
the names of the victims, expected to take a series of
people several hours. Afterward, white doves were to
be released. At Boston's Logan International Airport,
where two of the hijacked planes took off, there was
a moment of silence to remember the victims.
"Think not of the empty chair, but the people who
filled those chairs," said Jim Ogonowski, whose pilot
brother, John, was killed when his hijacked plane hit
the World Trade Center. He spoke outside the
Massachusetts Statehouse.
"We must find the inner strength and courage to live
our own lives in a way which they would have wanted,"
he said.
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