Nation Marks 9/11's Seventh Anniversary
The Associated Press
September 11, 2008
CBNNews.com - Relatives of victims killed at the World Trade Center are observing moments of silence to mark the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The ceremony at ground zero included moments of silence at 8:46 a.m. and 9:03 a.m. - the times that two hijacked jets slammed into the twin towers. Two more moments of silence were to be held at the times the towers fell.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg opened the ceremony by telling the tearful audience: "Today marks the seventh anniversay of the day our world was broken."
Bush Marks 911
President Bush is also observing the seventh anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks on Thursday at a time when more U.S. troops are being dispatched to fight rising violence in Afghanistan, the launch site for al-Qaeda's assault on America.
Every year since the attacks, Bush has stood in a moment of silence on the South Lawn of the White House to remember the nearly 3,000 people who died when terrorists crashed hijacked airplanes into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pa.
Today Bush led a White House gathering in observing a moment of silence marking the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
Standing next to the President under threatening skies for the brief South Lawn ceremony were his wife, Laura, and Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne. The moment of silence, as church bells peeled, was observed at 8:46 a.m. EDT, precisely the moment on that fateful day when terrorists crashed a hijacked airplane into the World Trade Center in New York. A second plane struck the trade center moments later. Another was flown into the Pentagon and still another crashed in a field at Shanksville, Pa. A chorus sang "God Bless America."
The assembled crowd numbered in the hundreds and included leaders of Congress, members of the Cabinet, diplomats, men and women in military uniform and chefs, plumbers, ushers and others who work at the White House. Across the Potomac River, a new memorial at the Pentagon was dedicated as the names of the victims were read aloud to mourners there.
Gordon England, deputy secretary of defense, said at the Pentagon: "Today as we dedicate this memorial, we also dedicate ourselves to never forget what happened here, and we make a solemn pledge to never again let this happen in America."
"God bless the fallen, their families and all who sacrifice for freedom and liberty," England said.
On one side of a Pentagon parking lot, nearly 3,000 flags flew to mark all the lives lost on Sept. 11
Pentagon Memorial
Later Thursday, the President will dedicate a memorial at the Pentagon, which has 184 benches over small reflecting pools, representing each life lost when American Airlines Flight 77 flew into the symbol of U.S. military might on that clear and sunny September morning.
The moment of silence at the White House will occur at 8:46 a.m., the exact time that terrorists slammed the first of two jetliners into the World Trade Center.
The Pentagon was struck about an hour later. Joining the president will be first lady Laura Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, members of Congress, Cabinet members, military officials and about 3,000 White House employees and guests.
Remembering each Victim
The Pentagon ceremony will include a wreath laying, music and a reading of the names of the 184 who died on Flight 77 and inside the building.
The Pentagon Memorial was built at a cost of $22 million on a 1.9-acre parcel of land adjacent to the Pentagon and within view of the crash site.
"The president thinks about 9/11 every single day when he wakes up and before he goes to bed," White House press secretary Dana Perino said Wednesday.
"This is what he's concerned about. He's always been concerned about another attack on our country. Thankfully, we haven't had one."
Presidential Nominees at Ground Zero
Barack Obama and John McCain, the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees, respectively, will appear together at ground zero in New York on Thursday to honor the memory of those who died. The campaigns agreed to halt television advertising critical of each other for the day.
Bush announced this week that he was sending a Marine battalion to Afghanistan in November and an Army brigade there by January.
U.S. commanders in Afghanistan say they need another 10,000 troops, about three times as many as they will receive this winter under the troop deployment plan Bush announced.
The commanders also urge more nonmilitary aid and say the Afghan government must perform better.
© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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