Bush, mourners honor Pentagon victims

Broad rays of rich October sunshine brightened the Pentagon on Thursday, but the warmth only illuminated the grief of hundreds of military officers, politicians and ordinary Americans who came to the nation’s military hub to mark the one-month anniversary of the day that terror struck.

They came to mourn their mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters who died when a hijacked airplane crashed into the mighty stone building. They came, after sitting through funerals for their own loved ones, to spend an hour in collective grief at the site where 189 people died.

“In New York, the terrorists chose as their target a symbol of America’s freedom and confidence,” President Bush told the crowd. “Here, they struck a symbol of our strength in the world. And the attack on the Pentagon, on that day, was more symbolic than they knew.”

Across the nation, in short and somber ceremonies and in individual moments of silence, Americans paused Thursday to commemorate the more than 5,000 people killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.

“We will always remember them,” New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said during a service near the trade center rubble that began at 8:48 a.m., when the first hijacked jetliner struck. “And to them we will dedicate the rebuilding of New York, and making certain that we do not allow the terrorists in any way to affect our spirit.”

In the Chicago suburb of River Forest, students from St. Vincent Ferrer School noted the day with prayers, the Pledge of Allegiance and the singing of “God Bless America.”

Mia Mastrangeli, 10, a 4th-grader, who wore a white long-sleeved T-shirt with an American flag on the front, said, “I feel sorry for all the people who lost family members. I feel it’s bad. I feel sad. But if you keep praying, maybe families can feel a bit better. I feel good to be an American. We have the freedom to do what we want to do. I think we should try to keep our freedom because it’s important.”

In Washington, where the last month has been filled with developments of the huge global investigation and the intense military campaign, Thursday’s ceremony was for many a singular opportunity to formally remember the 125 Pentagon workers and the 64 airline passengers and crew who died on Sept. 11.

Military police officers held long, black machine guns at the entrance to the memorial service. Mourners passed through metal detectors before taking their seats. A soldier played taps. The powerful baritone from hymns sung by a military chorus reverberated where, a month ago, sirens filled the air. The gravity of the loss was most apparent in the roll call of the dead, which started with Samantha Lightbourn-Allen and ended with Yuguang Zheng.

For eight minutes, as “Amazing Grace” swelled in the background, the name of each Pentagon victim scrolled across a giant screen. The names represented an alphabetic tapestry of America: from Dickens and Falkenberg, to Kincaid and Olson, to Rasmussen and Whittington.

One woman, overcome by grief, was led away by two uniformed troops. Elsewhere in the crowd, white tissues were passed row to row, among civilians and soldiers alike.

“We will never forget all the innocent people killed by the hatred of a few,” said the president, who fought back tears during the service.

After the prayers and songs, all top government officials talked of the evil in which the attack is rooted and also of the victims.

“Their deaths remind us of a new kind of evil: The evil of a threat and menace to which this nation and the world has now been fully awakened because of them,” said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Those who mourned said the service brought comfort.

“This gave me the feeling that I am not alone,” said Masako Murphy of New Jersey, whose husband, Patrick Murphy, was killed in the attack. A U.S. Naval Reserve officer, he had been assigned to a three-week project at the Pentagon.

Floyd Rasmussen, whose wife Rhonda was killed in the attack, said the service helped deal with his grief. But he added: “It will not heal a broken heart.”

The patriotism in the crowd swelled during the opening strains of “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” From the back of the sprawling crowd to the front, flags were slowly raised. By the last stanza, hundreds of them rippled in the breeze, including the flag Bush held in his right hand.

“I wanted to see how long I would last before the tears came,” said Air Force Master Sgt. David Mowry. “I lasted about three minutes.”

At the University of Chicago, a group of students gathered beneath a flagpole at 8:48 a.m. to begin a 24-hour vigil and sit-in protesting the U.S. bombardment of Afghanistan.

Students wrote messages in chalk on the sidewalk or signed a large white sheet spread out on the ground. Others stood in small groups and debated the military strikes and various alternatives. About 50 or so votive candles were arranged in a peace sign. Lea Bishop sat on the ground beside the candles, keeping them lit in a cool morning breeze.

“I’m just scared there’s going to be ground war for Seth’s sake,” said the 21-year-old senior, referring to her boyfriend, a U.S. Marine stationed in Quantico, Va.

“I support him and he is ready to sacrifice everything if that’s necessary -- and I’m really proud of that -- but I’m not ready to throw away our boys’ lives or their boys’ lives for the sake of reprisal,” Bishop said.

The anti-war activists acknowledged that theirs is a minority viewpoint, but said there are a number of students who sympathize with their belief that U.S. foreign policy partially fomented the attacks, and that military action will not solve the problem and may in fact exacerbate it.

“There are a lot of people that are for the war, but I think this (sit-in) is sort of an alternative forum for people who are skeptical,” said Ed Hershey, 22, a student from Buffalo.

Chicago Tribune correspondents Jeff Coen, Ofelia Casillas and Matthew Walberg contributed to this report.