Relatives, friends honor 9-11 victims

Ceremonies across U.S. mark fourth anniversary of attacks

? New York marked the fourth anniversary of the 9-11 attacks Sunday in an emotional ceremony at ground zero that showed wounds have yet to heal.

Holding photos and posters of loved ones, thousands gathered at the site of the former World Trade Center to honor the 2,749 people who died when two jetliners crashed into the twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001. The ceremony, lasting more than four hours, featured brothers and sisters of victims reading the list of the dead.

Under a blazing sun and brilliant blue sky, reminiscent of the weather four years earlier, many of the readers broke down as they delivered messages to fallen siblings. Some were overwhelmed as they struggled to pronounce the name of a brother or sister; others managed a smile and blew kisses to the sky when they were done.

“Again, we are a city that meets in sadness,” said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who began the ceremony with brief remarks at 8:46 a.m., the moment the first airplane hit the World Trade Center. The event then briefly paused and was halted three times, marking the moment the second plane hit the center, and when each tower fell.

Bloomberg also paid his respects to other victims, adding: “Our hearts turn as well toward London … and to Americans suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.”

After hearing the names of family members read aloud, many of the participants walked down a ramp to a reflecting pool in the pit of ground zero, marking the site of the towers. Some left bouquets of flowers. Others quietly bowed their heads in prayer.

Mourners place flowers in a reflecting pool in the footprint of the North Tower Sunday during the fourth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, in New York.

In Washington, President Bush and his wife, Laura, joined with Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, for a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House. As a bugler played taps, the four stood with their hands over their hearts. Earlier, Bush and his wife lighted a memorial candle for victims of 9-11 and Katrina during services at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lafayette Park across from the White House.

At the Pentagon, several thousand people participated in a Defense Department-sponsored walk that was part 9-11 tribute and part rally for U.S. troops.

Antiwar groups had decried the so-called “Freedom Walk” as a cynical exercise by the Bush Administration to shore up sagging support for the war in Iraq. But the event drew few protesters, in part because security was tight, and people had to register in advance to participate.

In the Pentagon parking lot, the staging area for the start of the walk, the crowd sang “God Bless America” and observed a moment of silence. It then began the 1.7-mile walk past some of the capital’s signature monuments.

Officials estimated that the event drew about 10,000 people, including veterans and families of servicemen and servicewomen, many pushing baby carriages and wearing red-white-and-blue T shirts. The walk finished at the National Mall, with a concert by singer Clint Black.

In brief remarks, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld paid tribute to families of 9-11 victims and hospitalized troops: “This is the first march for freedom, and looking at the size of this crowd, I suppose it will not be the last one,” Rumsfeld said.

Elsewhere, nearly 1,000 people attended a service in Shanksville, Pa., where a fourth plane crashed into a field on 9-11 after it had been hijacked by terrorists.

In New Orleans, New York firefighters aiding in the city’s recovery held a service for their 343 comrades who died in the terrorist attacks. They gathered on Canal Street around an impromptu memorial with a sign reading “Never Forget.” Earlier, local parishioners gave the New York City firemen a gift in the form of a bell from their church, whose steeple had been destroyed in New Orleans’ devastating storm.