In remembrance of those we've lost

[amietron]

'We remember lives lost'
Thursday, September 11, 2003 Posted: 10:57 AM EDT (1457 GMT)

(CNN) -- Flowers, notes and children's drawings filled two reflecting pools at the base of Ground Zero in New York, as thousands of people marked the second anniversary of the September 11 attacks that killed 3,016 people at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field.

A children's choir sang the "The Star-Spangled Banner" and bagpipers played "Amazing Grace" as an honor guard unfurled the torn American flag that was raised above the rubble of the Trade Center towers after the attacks.

The mourners paused for a moment of silence at 8:46 EDT, when American Airlines Flight 11 hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

Afterward, about 200 children and young adults began reading the names of the 2,792 victims of the World Trade Center attacks in alphabetical order. Each had a relative who died in the attack and many offered tributes and declarations of love when they read their names.

"I love you daddy, I miss you a lot," said Christina Maria Aceto after reading the name of her father, Richard Anthony Aceto.

As the names were read, family members streamed down the ramp to the lowest level of the site to pray, reflect and deposit flowers in the pools that represented the footprints of the lost towers. One woman clutched a picture of her son that bore the words, "We will never forget you. My son I love you."

The route was lined by dozens of posters made by children of the victims. One said, "I remember riding on my daddy's shoulders."

Mourners paused again at 9:03 to mark the time when United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower and at 9:59 and 10:29 when the towers collapsed.

New York Gov. George Pataki, looking at the thousands gathered at Ground Zero, said the "sense of loss is like it happened yesterday."

"I don't think that sense of sorrow will diminish, but at the same time, you can't help but feel pride. You look down and see the firefighters, you hear the bagpipes. You see the people, and you have a tremendous sense of pride that the heroism and courage that New Yorkers showed on September 11th." (Full story)

Memorials were held at the White House, on Capitol Hill and in towns and cities across the United States.

In Washington, President Bush and first lady Laura Bush, along with Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, stood on the White House lawn for a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m.

Earlier, Bush told reporters: "We remember lives lost. We remember heroic deeds. We remember the compassion, the decency of our fellow citizens on that terrible day." (Full story)

At the State Department, Secretary of State Colin Powell read a proclamation from Bush in which the president vowed the United States "will continue to bring our enemies to justice or justice to them."

At Arlington National Cemetery, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard Myers participated in a wreath-laying ceremony for the 125 people killed in the Pentagon attack and the 59 passengers and crew members of American Airlines Flight 77. A stained glass window that Pentagon workers helped assemble will be dedicated.

In Shanksville, Pennsylvania, a bell tolled Thursday morning as a minister read the names of the 40 passengers and crew of hijacked Flight 93 that crashed in a field. Ceremonies were held with memorial speeches and songs overnight in the Flight 93 chapel.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/09/11/911.wrap/

[Faithless]

Woke up this morning to go jogging early.

Heard them as they just started calling out the names.

got choked up. Still get choked up whenever I see the images. :(

[nudel]

not to be a bastard but is it me or is this country too memorialized. its aweful what happed but damn, if i hear another person say 9/11. if any little thing happens, you see news footage of people erecting an impromptu memorial. it just seems like a recent phenomenon, recent being in the 15 years.

[Emperor_Mike]

Originally Posted by nudel

not to be a bastard but is it me or is this country too memorialized. its aweful what happed but damn, if i hear another person say 9/11. if any little thing happens, you see news footage of people erecting an impromptu memorial. it just seems like a recent phenomenon, recent being in the 15 years.

Quite right. While it would do the victims a great disservice to trivialise or neglect their deaths, turning the whole affair into a ceremony of sorts is a bit over the edge, I think. The dead need to rest, not to be part of a nationally televised affair. Still, I'm sure it will eventually become a footnote in the larger issue of the "war" on terrorism.

[applehead]

i feel really guilty for saying this
but i just want to forget.

and those bastards keep showing
the footage of the plane hitting
the buildings.
why why why??!?!?!?!?!?
it's so incredibly disrespectful
to the people who have lost
loved ones on that day.

[Tao]

people are dead....for those that didn't lose anyone they care about they should just move on. Only those that've lost a close loved one should have the right to mourn.

I'm more concerned about the "victimized" culture the US has developed over the past couple of years. People seem to forget that the president lied to the public when he declared the air quailty in lower manhattan safe, even though now they say it is not, and still contains traces of asbestos and other harmful substances.

And what exactly has all those millions that went to create homeland security done for the public? besides their oh-so-clever color code of doom?

Speaking of which, what are doing in afghanistan and iraq? seems we're doing a half assed job in both countries. Our presence there is numerous enough to be irritable to the locals, yet we're lacking the man-power needed to truly set up a reliable government, police the streets and provide benefiets. I say either pull the fuck out, or do it all the way. I'm willing to spend money on these two countries if it meant actually helping them instead of just doing a half assed job and pissing everyone off.

but no, we don't hear the solutions and work that still needs to be done in these two countires anymore. the news coverage is now just basically which poker card the army has captured. there is no real willingness to help people, just some half-baked idea of "freedom."

That's why I hate this memorial, people (who didn't lose a loved one)are only talking about the past, and how the US has suffered....they don't realize that the importance of the anniversary of 9/11 is that we STILL haven't made any real changes and progress in third world countries, and continue to repeat the mistakes of the past.

[Faithless]

I think the reason that we still make a big deal of this is that it is considered so recent and was quite devastating.

I think the ceremonies will be apart of our rememberance for quite some time.

The rememberance is not just for us, I don't think, but also for the world. Now, call American self-centered, but I think this shocked most of the rest of the caring world, as well.

[Emperor_Mike]

We get too caught up in other people's tragedies to realise that the ones who suffer do so alone. One of my cousins and several good friends died in the attack on 9/11 and every time I see footage from that day and the people who take advantage of the event for publicity's sake it angers me. Things like this should be left alone. Let the dead rest and their surviving kin mourn their losses in peace.

[Irezumi Kiss]

I generally try to stay out of arguments/discussions about this day since there are as many feelings and opinions on what's "right to do" as there are people and perhaps they're all valid.

All I do know is that I was here when it all came down and I soaked up a lot of hurt, my own as well as other people's. And I still feel it — although this year here in NYC it's not depressing as it was last year for the 1st anniversary — I'm not sure how it feels in other cities across the nation, although they are no less valid to feel what we in NYC have felt. That being said, I personally feel like I have the "right" to "mourn" or "celebrate" or whatever you wanna call it...

After work tonight, I'ma do what I always do on payday Thursdays — go hit up my spots, eat some good food, drink some good drinx, chat up some pals n' gals if they're around, and just generate some positive karma for all the spirits of the people who didn't have to lose their lives as well as for a future in where we won't have to think about this shit...and lastly, to just be damn thankful I still have MY life!

If anybun wants ta drink with me, I'll be in the East Village! I hope you like sake!

[YuheiCarreau]

At least people have toned it down with all those stupid flags. The victims of 9/11 weren't soldiers (although obviously many were civil servants), so I really feel uncomfortable characterizing them as national heroes or martyrs or whatever... I think of the 9/11 dead the same way I think of the people who die in floods and earthquakes all over the world; they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and their deaths deeply affect their friends and family, but I didn't know any of them, so I'm not gonna spout off about how they were sacrificed, or noble, or they died too young... IMO that kind of stuff cheapens their deaths more than any terrorist ever could.

[ism]

Agree with Yuhei. It cheapens the deaths of the people to attempt to elevate them to some status more than victim. The only ones that can be claimed to have died for their country were at the Pentagon.

In terms of history, it will probably be a sentence at most, or a footnote to the Pre-emptive doctrine. It makes me think about the people who died, some of whom would disagree with the actions taken in their name. That's the saddest part for me.

Can't stand to watch that footage either, Meena. Turned off the television for today. On my drive home they played the American Idol Proud to Be An American charity single on the local ClearChannel dance music station (WKTU) and I promptly shut it off.

A few of my neighbors erected memorials on their front lawn today. Damn. The sun's down already. I should have taken pictures.

Have you seen Hallmark's Patriot Day cards ?