Victims' families and other New Yorkers on Saturday gathered at
Ground Zero to mark the third anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror
attacks that claimed more than 2700 lives.?
"Today, again we meet in great sadness," New York Mayor Michael
Bloomberg said as the memorial ceremony began. "It has been said
that a child who loses a parent is an orphan. A man who loses his
wife is a widower. A woman who loses her husband is a widow. There
is no name for a parent who loses a child, for there are no words
to describe this pain."
With quavering voices, parents and grandparents of the 2,749
victims are reading each name aloud. Many tried very hard to hold
back their tears and were choking up as they added poignant
personal messages when they reached the names of their own loved
ones. Other family members embraced each other and dried tears.
Soft violin music played in the background as the families
descended the long ramp into the site. Two square reflecting pools
set up for the ceremony slowly filled up with flowers and other
mementos left by the families. As construction proceeds, this will
likely be the last time most of the relatives stand on the bedrock,
which many of them consider sacred ground because so few remains
were recovered.
The recitation paused for four moments of silence, at the time
hijacked airliners came out of the clear blue sky and slammed into
each of the twin towers and the time they fell, buckling under
hellish fires.
Bloomberg, former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Governor George Pataki
and New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevy each delivered readings.
Pataki quoted former President Dwight Eisenhower's description of
the losses of World War II: "There's no tragedy in life like the
death of a child. Things never get back to the way they were."
The ceremony will conclude with trumpeters from the police and
fire departments performing "Taps."
Meanwhile, the Port Authority is holding its annual service at
noon. The first two anniversaries it was held uptown in Riverside
Church, but this year it moved downtown to St. Peter's Church.
Throughout the day, the church will toll a massive bell 3,000 times
in honor of the victims, once every 10 seconds.
On Staten Island, a memorial to the borough's victims will be
dedicated on the waterfront in the evening. The memorial features
two tall, windswept structures resembling postcards with plaques
featuring the silhouette and information about each victim.
At sundown, the "Tribute in Light", two beams directed skyward
to form a ghost-like image of the twin towers, will shine for the
night.
(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2004)