Americans Mark Sept.11 Anniversary Amid Tight Security

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, September 12, 2002

Americans Mark Sept.11 Anniversary Amid Tight Security

With tears and sorrow, Americans marked the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks Wednesday amid extraordinarily tight security.

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With tears and sorrow, Americans marked the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks Wednesday amid extraordinarily tight security.

"We have seen the images so many times they are seared on our souls, and remembering the horror, reliving the anguish, re-imagining the terror, is hard and painful," United States President George W. Bush said in a prime time televised address to the nation from Ellis Island, with the Statue of Liberty as his backdrop.

"For all Americans, it has been a year of adjustment, of coming to terms with the difficult knowledge that our nation has determined enemies and that we are not invulnerable to their attacks," Bush said, capping a solemn day of mourning and painful memories.

Earlier on Wednesday, in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania-- the epicenters of last year's terrorist attacks, and in other places around the country, Americans relived the staggering events of one year ago and remembered the 3,025 dead with prayers, a nationwide minute of silence and grief-wracked ceremonies.

The whole United States fell silent at 8:46 a.m. EST (1346 GMT),the moment the first hijacked airliner sliced into the World Trade Center in New York.

At Ground Zero, where the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed, thousands of relatives of the dead there fought back sobs as the names of the 2,800 office workers, firemen, police officers and passengers who perished were read aloud.

"Again today we are a nation that mourns. Again today we take into our hearts and minds those who perished on this site one yearago," said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

In Washington, Bush observed the minute's silence on the White House lawn and then went to a commemorative service at the Pentagon, where 184 people died when another hijacked plane smashed into the building.

"Today we remember each life, we rededicate this proud symbol, and we renew our commitment to win the war that began here," Bush said at the Pentagon ceremony, vowing to continue the war on terrorism. "There is a great deal left to do."

The president and first lady Laura Bush also visited Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where a fourth airliner crashed into the ground, falling well short of its apparently intended target in Washington.

As daylight began to ebb, Bush laid a wreath at Ground Zero, greeted family members of the dead there, hugging and comforting children, mothers, fathers, husbands and wives who lost loved oneson Sept. 11 last year.

The day was being marked in smaller ways in thousands of American cities and towns that felt the shockwave of the worst terrorist attack in US history.

The strains of Mozart's Requiem were heard in every time zone, played by symphonies and sung by school choirs.

Splinters of the destroyed buildings were on display in states such as Nevada, Tennessee, Ohio and Wyoming. Public schools in several states also honored the day with special events.

Americans at home and abroad were on high alert against new attacks Wednesday. On the eve of the anniversary, the Bush administration raised the nationwide terror alert to its second highest level, heightened security at federal buildings and landmarks, and closed nine US embassies overseas as new intelligence warned of car bombings, suicide attacks and other strikes.

Vice President Dick Cheney remained in hiding after being taken Tuesday night to a secret location to protect the presidential line of succession in case of an attack.

F-16 fighters and early warning aircraft patrolled the skies, surface-to-air missiles were deployed around Washington, and nuclear plants and other key facilities were under close watch.

Pentagon officials said Wednesday that US military commands in charge of regions from East Africa through the Arabian Peninsula to Pakistan had raised their security levels.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

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