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With familiar rituals of grief and a new purpose
to honor those who rushed into danger to help, the nation marked
eight years since the Sept. 11 terror attacks Thursday, with
volunteers reading the names of the World Trade Center lost.


      Memorials in New York, at the Pentagon and at the crash site of
United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania all took place under gray
skies, and those reading names at ground zero spoke under tents to
protect against rain.


      "We miss you. Life will never be the same without you," said
Vladimir Boyarsky, whose son, Gennady Boyarsky, was killed. "This
is not the rain. This is the tears."


      President Barack Obama, observing his first Sept. 11 as
president, had signed an order declaring it a day of service. He
had first lady Michelle Obama marked a moment of silence outside
the White House as a bugler played taps.


      The president said the nation came together after the attacks,
"united not only in our grief but in our resolve to stand up for
the country we love."


      In Shanksville, Pa., bells tolled for the 40 victims of the
fourth hijacked jetliner that crashed there eight years ago.


      At the World Trade Center site, volunteers - from soup kitchens,
advocacy groups, the Red Cross, the United Way - joined relatives
of the lost to read the names of those killed in the twin towers.


      Renewing what has become a poignant tradition, the relatives
called out greetings and messages of remembrances when they reached
the names of their own loved ones.


      "We love you, Dad, and we miss you," said Philip Hayes Jr.,
whose father, long retired from the Fire Department, rushed to the
site that 2001 morning and ultimately gave his life.


      Umbrellas bloomed and whipped inside-out at ground zero, where
moments of silence were observed at 8:46, 9:03, 9:59 and 10:29 a.m.
- the precise times that jetliners struck the north and south
towers of the trade center and that each tower fell.


      "From this day forward, we will safeguard the memories of those
who died by rekindling the spirit of service that lit our city with
hope and helped keep us strong," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg
said at the ceremony.


      Vice President Joe Biden, speaking during a break in the list of
names, told the several hundred gathered that "there's a special
fraternity for those of us who've lost spouses and children."
Biden's daughter and first wife died in a 1972 car accident.


      Biden also joined families who laid flowers in a reflecting pool
on the site where the towers once stood.


      Relatives and friends of victims visited a partially built,
street-level Sept. 11 memorial plaza that had not been there a year
ago. The twin, waterfall-filled pools surrounded by victims' names
are expected to be built by the attacks' 10th anniversary in 2011.


      George W. Bush, whose presidency was defined in part by that
day, had no public appearances planned. A spokesman said he would
be working in his office. In a statement, he said he and his wife,
Laura, were thinking of the victims and their families.


      He also honored members of the armed forces and law enforcement.
"Their courage, service, and sacrifice is a fitting tribute to all
those who gave their lives on Sept. 11, 2001. On this day, let us
renew our determination to prevent evil from returning to our
shores."

Gallery

With familiar rituals of grief and a new purpose
to honor those who rushed into danger to help, the nation marked
eight years since the Sept. 11 terror attacks Thursday, with
volunteers reading the names of the World Trade Center lost.


9/11 marked with mourning and a spirit of service

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