Moments of silence mark 9/11 crashes

The nation solemnly observed the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks Monday with moments of silence timed to mark the World Trade Center jetliner crashes and quiet remembrances held around the country.

The 16-acre trade center site in lower Manhattan fell quiet at 8:46 a.m., five years after American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the north tower, and 9:03 a.m., when United Flight 175 slammed into the south tower.

Family members at ground zero held up signs reading "You will always be with us" and "Never forget," and quiet sobs could be heard as the moments of silence were observed. Some victims' relatives crossed themselves and wiped away tears.

"Five years have come, and five years have gone, and still we stand together as one," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. "We come back to this place to remember the heartbreaking anniversary — and each person who died here — those known and unknown to us, whose absence is always with us."

The sorrowful task of reading the names of the 2,749 victims of the trade center attacks fell to spouses and partners.

"My love for you is eternal," said Maria Acosta, who began the annual reading of the names, including her lost boyfriend, Paul John Gill. "And we all love you very much."

President Bush opened the day with breakfast at a historic Lower East Side firehouse, mingling with firefighters and police officers who were among the first to rush to the burning skyscrapers.

The president later stood in front of a door salvaged from a fire truck destroyed that day, a flag at half-staff above him. Bush was to visit the attack sites in Shanksville, Pa., and the Pentagon later in the day before giving a prime-time address from the Oval Office.

At ground zero, family members had begun arriving before 7 a.m., some holding bouquets of roses and framed photos of their loved ones. Others wore pins bearing pictures of the victims.

"I think it's important that people remember as years go on," said Diana Kellie, of Acaconda, Mont., whose niece and niece's fiance were killed on one of the planes. "The dead are really not dead until they're forgotten."

In Shanksville, where United Flight 93 crashed to the ground, killing 40, people gathered at a temporary memorial — a 10-foot chainlink fence covered with American flags, firefighter helmets and children's drawings.

Many of the visitors, like 15-year-old Carol Fritz, had no connection to the doomed flight.

"I didn't understand when everything happened," Carol said, crying. "My kids, my grandkids are going to ask me what happened. I wanted to tell them, tell them I was here."

Moments of silence were also observed in the American and United terminals of Logan International Airport in Boston. American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 took off from Logan before slamming into the towers.

Other remembrances were planned around the country: Firefighters in Akron, Ohio, planned to display 3,000 American flags on a 10-acre plot in a western Ohio village. In Virginia Beach, Va., firefighters and members of the public planned to form a human flag.

On Sunday, Bush marked the eve of the anniversary with somber gestures and few words: He and his wife, Laura, set wreaths in small, square reflecting pools in the pit of the trade center site, one each for where the north and south towers stood.

The Bushes had descended the long ramp from street level into ground zero accompanied by New York Gov. George Pataki, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Rudolph Giuliani, hailed for his work as mayor in the months after the attack.

"It took about 30 years for this terrorism to develop," Giuliani said Monday morning on ABC's "Good Morning America" as he stood at the site. "It's going to take more than five years to deconstruct them."

"I'm kind of surprised at the progress we've made," he said. "We haven't been attacked in five years. I thought we would be. I thought for sure we would be. I thank God we haven't. But we have to prepare for it."

On Sunday afternoon, the Bushes attended a memorial service at St. Paul's Chapel just off ground zero, where George Washington once prayed and where exhausted rescuers sought refuge in 2001 while they dug through the trade center rubble.

A youth choir sang "America the Beautiful" and "My Country 'Tis of Thee," and religious leaders of several faiths offered words of comfort.

At a ceremony Sunday at 7 World Trade Center, the gleaming first office tower to rise at ground zero, Pataki honored first responders and said American freedom represents "the ultimate threat" to terrorists.

Peter Gorman, president of the New York Uniformed Fire Officers Association, took note of the day's vivid blue sky and said it reminded many of the late-summer morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

"Today is still a glorious day in the glorious city of New York, the powerful state of New York, in the United States of America," Gorman said. "New Yorkers and Americans will never bow to terrorism, thanks to the U.S. military, thanks to every first responder in this country."

The anniversary dawned on a nation unrecognizable a half-decade ago — at war in Afghanistan and Iraq, governed by a color-coded terror alert system, newly unable to carry even hair gel onto airplanes.

Bush administration officials mounted a vigorous defense Sunday of the measures they had taken to protect the country, even as the nation remains divided on the Iraq war, treatment of terror detainees and surveillance measures.

"There has not been another attack on the United States," Vice President Dick Cheney said on "Meet the Press" on NBC. "And that's not an accident."

And there was a fresh reminder of the terrorist threat: An hourlong videotape posted online Sunday showed previously unseen footage of Osama bin Laden, smiling, and other commanders apparently planning the New York and Washington attacks.

An unidentified narrator said the plot was devised not with computers and radar screens and military command centers but with "divine protection" for a brotherly atmosphere and "love for sacrificing life."

Thessalonians 3:3 (Amplified Bible)
Yet the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you and make you strong and set you on a firm foundation and guard you from the evil one.

Dear Father:

Today marks the anniversary of a day that none of us will ever forget. Who can forget the fear? The confusion? The shock? It was a day that changed the world. And it was a day that the world saw what America and her people are really made of. For a brief time, we were honestly united. There were no Democrats, no Republicans. Only Americans. There were no red, yellow, black, brown or white. Only Americans. It was a time that differences were forgotten and we were truly one nation, under God, with Liberty and Justice for all. We were Americans. And we were proud to be Americans as the song says “where at least I know I’m free. And I won’t forget the men (and women) who died and gave that right to me. So I’ll proudly stand up, next to You and defend her liberty. ‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land…God Bless the USA !”

We know that today there will a lot of remembering. And we need to remember. We need to remember that our enemy is real. More than that, we need to remember that YOU are real and YOU are mightier than anything the enemy can throw at us. Father, the one good that came of all of this on that tragic day was the unity of heart, mind and will of America and her allies around the world. We all knew it would not last. But at least we had that time of standing together as one. The enemy still roams about as a roaring lion seeking to destroy us. But he is defeated. Yes, he wins a skirmish here and there. But WE win the war. We will not allow terror to rule the day. We will trust in You. We will not give in to fear and terror and hide. We will stand and fight because with YOU on our side, the enemy does not stand a chance.

Today, Jesus, we lift up our country to You. There is so much division. I wish there was a way to return to that brief time when we were truly one nation – without having to have such a horrific tragedy occur to shock us out of our normal way of thinking. If only our leaders to find a way to work together instead of trying to push their own private agendas. If only we as a nation to learn to look beyond our differences and focus on what we have in common. Our differences can be our strength – it does not have to tear us apart. But we know that You are not Lord of this world. The devil is god of this world. He hates us as Your Children and he hates America as a nation that You have blessed.

You said that You would guard us from the devil. Sometimes You hide us in a shelter and guard us and other times, we are in plain view of the enemy and You are still guarding us. The devil has us in his sights like a bull charging but You step in front of us and block him and he falls. We do not need to get all concerned about the plans the devil has cooked up for us because the plans YOU have cooked up for us are far superior and for our good and not for our bad. The devil is defeated. We know what his future holds and we know what our future holds.

Father, we lift up those families who have lost loved ones on that day 5 years ago and since in our fight for freedom. Be a comfort and strength to those left behind. Shelter them and hold them close to Your Heart.

We lift up our military to You today. Be a shield of protection for them. Place that hedge of protection around them. Keep them safe from anyone or anything that would try to harm them.

Lord, give those in leadership and in command Godly wisdom. Place Your people in all levels of government and military. Men and women who will seek Your Face and look for Your leading. Lord, our great desire is that Ben Laden and his gang we captured. We know that You know where he is and we know that the devil is working to keep him hidden. Show our commanders where he is hiding. Lord, cause someone from his inner circle to come forward and help us find him. Give the people in this region to strength and will to stand up against the real enemy and fight for their own freedom. Open their eyes and hearts to see that America is not out to control their country. We are seeking peace, not war. But it seems that there is a price to be paid for peace. The media only shows us the negative. We do not get to hear of the good that has happened very often. In spite of that, we know that You are still at work. You are still on Your throne. You have not gone to sleep on us and left us to fend for ourselves. You warned us that the devil was sly and persistent. Give America the will to do the right thing. Not the politically correct thing. Not the popular thing. The RIGHT thing. Guide our leaders. Help them to see clearly what the next step should be. Give them the strength to stand up and forget about politics and see what is truly the best course for us to go.

Lord, I guess one of many prayers today is to help us never to forget – not just the tragedy, but the triumph. Help us to remember “Greater is He (that is YOU) that is in US, than he (the devil) that is in the world”. Help us to remember that if we “Stand firm against the devil, he WILL flee from us”. Help us to keep our mind upon You today and draw our strength and our peace from You today.

In Jesus’ Name…Amen

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