Tears Flow Again at Tributes on Third Anniversary of 9/11

Three years after attacks by terrorists that killed nearly 3,000 people, New York and the nation observed the anniversary of Sept. 11 in ceremonies marked by undiminished grief and resolve.

At a podium overlooking ground zero, parents and grandparents of people who died at the World Trade Center struggled Saturday to get through a recitation of names without breaking down. Many wept as they recalled children gone forever.

“It has been said that a child who loses a parent is an orphan, a man who loses his wife is a widower, and a woman who loses her husband is a widow,” said New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, before the reading of 2,749 names began. “But there is no name for a parent who loses a child, for there are no words to describe this pain.”

On Sept 11, 2001, 19 suicide hijackers commandeered four planes and succeeded in using three of them as deadly weapons, striking two towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. On the fourth plane, passengers revolted and died when the plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pa.

Bells tolled at special services and other observances were held across the country Saturday -- in New York and Washington, in Boston and Los Angeles, where many victims on the doomed planes were from, and in Atlanta, Denver, Albuquerque and Oklahoma City. In many places, a simple moment of silence was observed.

In Washington, President Bush marked the anniversary in a live radio broadcast from the Oval Office. Surrounded by victims’ relatives, firefighters and police officers, Bush described the attacks as a turning point for the nation. “We saw the goals of a determined enemy: to expand the scale of their murder, and force America to retreat from the world,” he said. “And our nation accepted a mission: We will defeat this enemy.”

Earlier, Bush and his wife, Laura, along with Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, attended a prayer service at St. John’s Church. They then joined members of Congress, other officials and victims’ families on the South Lawn of the White House for a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. -- the time that, three years earlier, American Airlines Flight 11 hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

In the Pennsylvania field where United Flight 93 crashed, two large bells rang as the names of the 40 passengers and crew on board were read. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told the victims’ families that “no words, no memorials, nothing can take the place of all that you have lost.”

Sen. John F. Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate, marked the anniversary by paying tribute to victims in his home state of Massachusetts.

At Boston Public Garden, he laid white lilies wrapped in red, white and blue ribbons at a granite Sept. 11 memorial, where he read the engraved names of Massachusetts victims of the terrorist strikes. Kerry later spoke to more than 100 members of Sept. 11 families at the newly restored Boston Opera House.

“While Sept. 11 was the worst day we have ever seen, it brought out the best in all of us,” he said. “And we must always remember that we will only defeat those who sought to destroy us by standing together as one America.”

In Los Angeles, several hundred city firefighters, their families and others gathered at the department’s Elysian Park training center for an interfaith prayer ceremony held around a monument featuring a 23-ton steel column from the base of the World Trade Center, part of commemorations throughout the region.

A bagpipe rendition of “Amazing Grace” brought many to tears and Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, the leader of the Roman Catholic archdiocese, said he would never forget the images of firefighters who “truly ran into harm’s way ... and laid down their lives in the service of others.”

Saturday’s anniversary was also marked around the world.

In Pakistan, Islamic hard-liners used the day to protest American policies in Iraq. “We are holding these rallies to tell the people that America is the enemy of peace,” Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, the leader of an alliance of Islamic parties, told Associated Press. Government officials said they stepped up security, refusing to allow protests to disrupt the peace.

In Japan, a top government spokesman acknowledged the loss of “many precious lives, including those of 24 Japanese” in the Sept. 11 attacks.

“We are entering a period in which one terrorist attack leads to another,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told reporters. “Each country should make efforts and also work closely globally to prevent this despicable crime of terrorism.”

In Jerusalem, about 1,200 people took part in a rally in memory of the Sept. 11 victims. Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders presided at the event, held in a park across the street from the U.S. Consulate. Participants prayed, observed a moment of silence and released a flight of white doves.

Elsewhere, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said the fight against terrorism would be a “long and bloody battle,” suggesting that those who think otherwise are “deluding” themselves.

“The world did change on that day,” he said. “We are living in a different environment, and even in a freedom-loving country such as Australia, we have to recognize that.”

In New York, several thousand people showed up for the ground zero ceremony, where former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, New York Gov. George E. Pataki and New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey also made brief comments from the stage.

Three family members delivered special tributes. Nancy Brandemarti read a poem to her son, Nick, including the lines: “Our hearts still ache in sadness, and secret tears will flow. What it meant to lose you, no one will ever know.”

Many of the attendees wore colorful T-shirts emblazoned with the photographs of their loved ones. Some gathered in front of the stage while the names were read, listening intently, while others cried quietly in the arms of friends and family.

Almost all of them descended into the pit at ground zero after their loved one’s name was read. They left behind flowers in two small reflecting pools, each meant to symbolize the fallen towers.

The ceremony, which lasted about four hours, was interrupted four times by the ringing of a bell, marking the moment each plane crashed into a tower, and the moment each building fell. When the event ended, police and fire department trumpeters played taps.

New York scheduled other Sept. 11 events during the day, including a series of memorial services in churches, synagogues and firehouses. The city also dedicated a permanent memorial to victims on Staten Island and began a display of the Twin Towers of Light, two massive beams symbolizing the fallen buildings.

These rituals were meant to be comforting, but the sight of parents mourning children during Saturday’s observance unleashed waves of emotion at ground zero. About 202 mothers and fathers were chosen for the ceremony, and they mounted the stage in pairs. Each took turns reading a list of names before mentioning their own children.

One after another, they spoke of how their lives had been irreparably damaged, how the loss of a child was beyond comprehension. Several paid tribute to their children quietly, blowing a kiss to heaven. Others seemed to be in a daze.

Brunilda Rodriguez tried to talk about her son, Anthony, but got no further than: “How I love you, my son, my broken heart.” Eleanor Salter talked of her daughter, Catherine, saying: “You were my brightest star, my world will never be the same.”

From a distance, Christina Rinaldi watched her mother, Nancy, getting ready to read a list of names before talking about Michael, a 25-year-old firefighter.

“I don’t know how she’s going to do it,” said the Staten Island woman, shaking her head. The shock of Michael’s death has not abated, she said, and even though the attacks happened three years ago, it seems like yesterday. The family thinks about Michael all the time, still grappling with their loss, Rinaldi said.

Minutes later, Nancy D’Auria stepped to the podium.

“I love you and miss you, Michael,” she said haltingly. Five seconds of silence passed, and the mother added softly: “Michael, you were the light of my life.”

As she left the stage, she found her daughter waiting for her in the crowd. Both hugged, rocking back and forth slowly, as Christina said “Oh, Mommy,” over and over.

Times staff writers Michael Finnegan, Elizabeth Mehren, Chuck Neubauer, Laura King and Stephanie Chavez contributed to this report. Associated Press also contributed to this report.