"They were our neighbors, our friends, our wives, children and parents," said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who, along with President Barack Obama, helped lead the commemoration on the 10th anniversary of the attacks.
The solemn ceremony at the site of the World Trade Center came amid a heavy security presence permeating the area in lower Manhattan, as authorities continued their search for possible plotters of another terrorist strike.
Information considered credible but unconfirmed indicated up to three attackers could be trying to use an explosives-laden vehicle for an attack in New York or Washington, according to various sources. Authorities stressed that while they were taking information of a possible attack plot seriously, there was no evidence so far that an actual terrorist operation was underway.
Roads near Ground Zero were blocked and police checkpoints for both vehicles and pedestrians surrounded the memorial, with backpacks checked by bomb-sniffing dogs and put through x-ray machines.
At the ceremony, Obama and the first lady stood behind bullet-proof protection. Former President George W. Bush, who was president at the time, read a letter sent by Abraham Lincoln to a woman who lost five sons in the Civil War.
"I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming," Bush read, quoting Lincoln. "But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the republic they died to save."
Those who lost loved ones in the attacks stepped forward to read names. In all, 2,753 people died on two airplanes and on the ground when the planes slammed into the World Trade Center towers, causing their collapse. That total does not include the 10 al Qaeda hijackers on board the planes.
The New York program included music from singer James Taylor ahead of another moment of silence at 9:59 a.m., the time the South Tower collapsed. That was followed by another moment of silence at 10:03 a.m. in Shanksville, the time of the Flight 93 crash.
Those in the crowd included Joseph Conzo, who has been an EMT for 18 years. He recalled the moment the second tower collapsed, leaving him trapped beneath the smoldering rubble of a neighboring Marriott hotel.
"I still can't believe it's been 10 years," he said. "I've got a range of mixed emotions."
Conzo said he was in therapy for two years after the attacks, grappling with "survivors' guilt."
"It was the kind of thing that if you went right, you died, and if you went left, you lived," he said. "I was left with the question, 'Why me?'"
Sunday's ceremony, to him, is about closure, he said. "Let's get this finished and move forward."
A moment of silence spread across New York City at 8:46 a.m. -- the time when American Airlines flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Houses of worship tolled their bells.
After Obama read a psalm, 167 pairs of family members began reading the names of those who perished. The reading was interrupted by another moment of silence at 9:03 a.m. -- the time when United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower.
Parallel commemoration ceremonies also took place in Washington, where mourners observed a moment of silence at 9:37 a.m. -- the moment American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon, killing 184 people, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where passengers aboard United Flight 93 are believed to have thwarted a plot to drive the plane through the U.S. Capitol dome and eventually caused the plane to crash in a field.
The total number of dead in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania was 2,977 people, not including 19 hijackers.
In Washington, the moment of silence was followed by remarks from Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.
Biden spoke on the nation's efforts to combat al Qaeda in the wake of the attacks, referencing the May assassination of its leader Osama bin Laden.
"No memorial, no ceremony, no words will ever fill the void left in your heart by (the victims') loss," he told family members. "My prayer for you is that 10 years later, when you think of them ... that it brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye."
At the ceremony, troops placed wreaths at the Pentagon memorial. En route to the Pentagon ceremony, Biden stopped by a Washington fire station.
Obama will attend all three ceremonies Sunday. In his weekly address Saturday, he called on Americans to honor the victims of the terrorist attacks through activities such as prayer, memorial services, ringing of bells and evening candlelight vigils.
"They wanted to terrorize us, but, as Americans, we refuse to live in fear," Obama said. "Yes, we face a determined foe, and make no mistake -- they will keep trying to hit us again. But as we are showing again this weekend, we remain vigilant. We're doing everything in our power to protect our people. And no matter what comes our way, as a resilient nation, we will carry on."
At Fort Drum, New York -- home to the 10th Mountain Division, which has led the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan -- silence fell as bells tolled and a bagpiper played "Amazing Grace."
Soldiers and their families gathered in front of a memorial that says, "Lest we forget," etched with images of the three sites and the division's insignia.
"It's extremely emotional," said Felicia Cappo of Jackson, New Jersey, who was among those gathered in New York City. She was holding a laminated photo of her brother, Gary Frank, who died in the attacks. "It's hard to believe 10 years have gone by ... it will always feel like yesterday."
She said she makes an annual visit to Ground Zero. "No remains were ever found, so this is where we come to pay tribute to my brother."
Louis Jerez of Pasadena, Maryland, was carrying a poster with several photos of his cousin, Angel Louis Juarbe Jr., a firefighter who died that day.
"This is hard. It's not easy," Jerez said. "Every year, my chest feels tight ... you don't heal from this kind of loss."
A solemn memorial service at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York included the recitation of the names of 343 firefighters who died at ground zero.
Patrick Mate Lyons, who was born October 7, 2001, read an open letter to his father, Patrick, one of those killed.
"I want you to know that Mommy is doing a great job of loving me and raising me in a happy home," Patrick said. "I play flag football in the same league as you, and in the same position as you, as quarterback. In baseball, I pitch, just like you did. I really like it when people compare me to you."
Mark Tillman, a 30-year Air Force veteran who piloted Air Force One, was among those at the New York ceremony. The plane, which carried the classified code name "Angel," took off carrying then-President Bush from the tarmac in Sarasota, Florida, that day, traveling to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, where Bush taped an address to the nation.
"The challenge for us was that we didn't know what the threat was," Tillman recalled. He said he called in a fighter jet escort to accompany the plane, and later received a call from then-Vice President Dick Cheney.
"Angel was next," Cheney told Tillman. "To me," Tillman said, "it was an act of war and the vice president was telling me that the president could be the next target."
Air Force One returned to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland about 6 p.m. that night, after Washington had been secured.
Tillman said that Sunday's ceremony represents solemn remembrance to him, but also signals what will continue.
"September 11 is a day in history, but it's not World War I or World War II," he said. "This battle hasn't ended."
"It's the first time it feels right," said actor Denis Leary, who has helped champion health coverage for first responders affected by the toxic plume which enveloped much of lower Manhattan following the attacks. "What they did on 9/11 is an extreme version of what they do and the risks they take every day."
"I have no patience for those who have prevented first-responder care," he said, referencing controversy that swirled around whether the Zadroga bill, a recently piece of legislation that provides health care to those affected by 9/11, will also include cancer.
"They should be the first guys we check off the list," he said.
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone provided by Airtel Nigeria.
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