A month after, a pause to remember an unforgettable moment

By Jerry Schwartz

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Through unstinting smoke and endless tears, weary cleanup workers paused for a moment at ground zero Thursday to mark a grim milestone — the passage of one month since two colossal towers ceased to exist, along with thousands of people trapped inside.

It was a day for remembering. In Washington, President Bush joined multitudes at the Pentagon to remember the 189 people who died there that same September day. There were ceremonies in places far from the devastation, but still reeling from the acts.

"On Sept. 11, great sorrow came to our country, and from that sorrow has come great resolve," the president said at the nerve center of the nation’s military.

A "cult of evil" attacked the Pentagon, the World Trade Center and United Flight 93 over Pennsylvania, Bush said, and "there is no shelter" for those responsible. "We have the patience to fight and win on many fronts," he said.

After taps was played and after choruses of "America the Beautiful," the names of the victims were scrolled on television screens. "Their deaths, like their lives, shall have meaning," said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

"We remember their deeds," said Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "We call them heroes — not because they died, but because they lived in service to the greater good."

A single red rose was placed on the seat of each relative of each victim. Members of the cabinet and Congress sat by, solemnly.

In New York, workers took off their helmets and joined arm in arm. "Don’t look at the terrorism over there, look at the heroism over here," said Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, a Fire Department chaplain.

Fire Department bagpipers played "Amazing Grace," their pipes decorated with small American flags. They led police officers, firefighters and construction workers to the service, which included a moment of silence at 8:48 a.m., the time of the first attack on Sept. 11.

At the New York Stock Exchange, representatives of New York’s uniformed services rang the opening bell, and received a lengthy ovation. At London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral, firefighters from all over Britain attended a service for the firefighters who died in New York.

At the trade center, as bright sunlight pierced the smoke that has persisted for a month, prayers were offered first for the 343 firefighters and 23 police officers who were killed, and then for all the dead. So far, there are 422 confirmed dead and 4,815 listed as missing. In addition, 157 people on the planes were killed.

"The fire is still burning, but from it has emerged a stronger spirit," Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said as he stood with the city’s fire and police commissioners on a stage in front of the blackened Dow Jones building.

"Sometimes it feels like yesterday, sometimes it feels like a year ago or more," he said. The terrorists, he said, "attempted to break our spirit — instead they have emboldened it."

It was a brief service, just 15 minutes long; the idling engines of the heavy construction machinery could be heard in the background. The 23rd Psalm was read, and prayers were offered. At the end, the pipes played "America the Beautiful."