US presidential politics and the health of ground zero workers loomed over the sixth anniversary of the September 11 attacks as relatives of World Trade Center victims gathered at a lower Manhattan park to remember the dead.
Under the grim backdrop of gray skies, the ceremony began at 8:40 am with the sounds of drums and bagpipes, as an American flag saved from the site was carried onstage.
"The Star Spangled Banner" was performed by the Brooklyn Youth Chorus before the first of four moments of silence was observed at 8:46 am - the moment the first plane struck the north tower. The second silence marked when the other plane hit the second tower, and two more moments of silence remembered each tower's fall.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has presided over each of the anniversary events, described September 11, 2001, as "the day that tore across our history and our hearts. We come together again as New Yorkers and as Americans to share a loss that can't be measured."
Firefighters and first responders who helped rescue New Yorkers began the annual recitation of the 2,750 victims' names shortly after the first moment of silence. Many of those rescuers are now ill with respiratory problems and cancers that they blame on exposure to the fallen towers' toxic dust.
For the first time, the name of a victim who survived the day of the attacks but died five months later of lung disease was added to the official roll. Felicia Dunn-Jones, an attorney who was working near the World Trade Center, became the 2,974th victim linked to the attack sites where hijacked airliners hit the two towers, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field.
Other September 11 commemorations were held around the United States, including a moment of silence by President George W. Bush at the White House and a ceremony at the Pentagon. A memorial honoring the 40 passengers and crew who died when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania was also planned. At the main US base at Afghanistan, a memorial ceremony was held.
In past years, the memorial ceremonies for the New York victims have been held at the twin towers' footprints with family members reading the names of the dead. But with construction of four new towers now under way, the services were moved to a nearby park just southeast of the site. The move prompted some families to skip this year's memorial.
Source: China Daily/agencies
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