By: Jennifer Peter
Associated Press
At 8:46 a.m. Sept. 11, bells will ring in firehouses and
churches across the country.
The strains of Mozart's Requiem will be heard in time
zones worldwide, sung by symphonies and school choirs.
Splinters of the destroyed buildings will be on display in
states such as Nevada, Tennessee, Ohio and Wyoming.
Americans will gather at public plazas and government
buildings in cities and towns across the country for moments
of silence and remembrances.
At the epicenters of the attacks, in NYC, the Pentagon,
and a rural Pennsylvania town, government leaders will join
victims' families in remembering the first anniversary of the
attacks. In Boston, where terrorists boarded the planes that
destroyed the World Trade Center, all takeoffs and landings
will halt for a minute at the moment the first tower was struck
a year ago.
But the day will also be marked in smaller ways, with candlelight
vigils, music and prayer services in thousands of American
communities that felt the shockwaves.
In places such as Wilmot, N.H., the loss was intensely personal.
One of the town's 1,110 residents, Thelma Cuccinello, 71,
died aboard a hijacked flight. Using money raised at farmer's
markets and car washes, the town has built a bandstand that
will be dedicated Wednesday.
"It will give the town a reason to come together," said
Rhonda Gauthier, the town selectman's secretary and chairwoman
of the bandstand committee. "We are dedicating it to all the victims
and heroes."
In other cities and towns, the commemorations were inspired by a
more general sense of national loss.
"We know people are looking for a way to remember what
happened and experience something that will help them heal,"
said Lauren Kirby of the Annapolis, Md., Symphony Orchestra,
which will begin playing Mozart's Requiem at 8:46 a.m., the time
the first plane struck the World Trade Center.
As part of the so-called Rolling Requiem, organized by a group of
Seattle singers, Mozart's work will be performed at 8:46 a.m. local
time in at least 21 time zones around the world, including 43 states
and 24 countries.
In addition to remembering those who died and honoring police,
firefighters and the military, event organizers are using the anniversary
to honor the fundamental American freedoms that were attacked that day.
At ground zero, New York Gov. George Pataki will read the
Gettysburg Address and New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey will read
parts of the Declaration of Independence.
The Library of Virginia will display the state's 1789 original manuscript
copy of the proposed United States Bill of Rights, with its original 12
ammendments.
In Lincoln, Neb., 20 immigrants will be naturalized as U.S. citizens
at an evening memorial ceremony.
Public schools in several states will honor the day with special events,
including a moment of silence at 9:40 a.m. in all Washington, D.C.
classrooms. That is the time when a plane carrying three of the district's
students and three teachers struck the Pentagon.
In Augusta, Ga., children at some elementary schools will dress in red,
white and blue, while other students will gather around the flag pole to
sing "God Bless America."
Traffic will stop for a minute at 9 a.m. in Carlisle, Pa. Planes will perform
flyovers in states including Colorado, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois and Oregon.
Flames of remembrance will be lit in New York City, Tomahawk, Wis.,
and Atlanta. Doves of peace will be released in Reno, Nev.
And in Hawaii, the last U.S. state where Mozart's Requiem will be played,
the islands' four mayors are inviting people to step outside their homes,
classrooms and workplaces to observe a moment of silence.
"The important thing is to never forget what happened on Sept. 11, 2001,"
Gov. Ben Cayetano said.
 |