Bush pays respects at attack sites, talks to nation tonight
NEW YORK — President Bush and his wife, Laura, stood in somber silence Sunday after laying wreaths at the site where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once soared. He later pledged “renewed resolve” to remember the lessons of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
The Bushes set floral wreaths adrift in reflecting pools that mark the former location of the north and south towers at the beginning of a fifth-anniversary tour that will take them to all three sites of devastation.
They made a slow procession down a long ramp lined with a flag-bearing honor guard made up of firefighters and policemen, making their way four or five stories below ground level. Uttering no words, the Bushes walked hand-in-hand on the floor of the cavernous pit with bagpipes wailing in the background.
Afterward, the Bushes attended a service of prayer and remembrance at nearby St. Paul’s Chapel, greeted firefighters at a firehouse overlooking ground zero and toured a private museum next door that is dedicated to 9/11 families.
“Laura and I approach tomorrow with a heavy heart. It’s hard not to think about people who lost their lives on Sept. 11th, 2001,” a tight-faced Bush told reporters outside the firehouse, which was destroyed in the attack and rebuilt. “I just wish there were some way we could make them whole.”
Bush also called today’s anniversary “a day of renewing resolve.”
“I vowed that I’m never going
to forget the lessons of that day,” he said, still clutching his wife’s hand. “There is still an enemy out there who would like to inflict the same kind of damage again.”
They were the first stops of nearly 24 hours of observances at the three sites where terrorists wrought death and destruction and transformed his presidency.
Today, the anniversary, he was to visit with firefighters and other emergency workers at a firehouse in lower Manhattan; attend a ceremony at the field in Shanksville, Pa., where one of the hijacked planes hurtled to the ground; and participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Pentagon.
He also was to speak to Americans during a prime-time address tonight from the Oval Office.
Accompanying the president and first lady at ground zero were New York Gov. George Pataki, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Rudy Giuliani, who was New York mayor at the time of the attacks.
Across New York, residents marked the day at other ceremonies large and small. From a service of remembrance at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in midtown Manhattan to a chant at a Buddhist temple on Staten Island, New Yorkers observed the anniversary with prayer and reflection.
Bush and his wife wore grim expressions as they took their places for the interfaith service at St. Paul’s. The 240-year-old Episcopal church, across the street from the site, escaped damage and became a center of refuge for weary rescue workers.
Sitting next to Bush in the pew was Jane Vigiano, who lost two sons in the attack — Joe, a policeman and John, a firefighter. Sitting next to Laura Bush was Bob Beckwith, the retired firefighter who handed Bush a bullhorn on the president’s first ground zero visit.
On their way in, Bush and his wife greeted Arlene Howard, the mother of 9/11 victim George Howard, a New York Port Authority police officer, with a kiss on the cheek. Bush keeps Howard’s badge as a constant reminder of the attacks. She also sat in the same pew with the Bushes, but farther down.
A printed message from the Rev. James H. Cooper said: “The message to people who visit St. Paul’s is simple: Go back to your communities knowing that a place of love stood next door to Ground Zero. Try to make the world a better place.”
Outside the church, several dozen protesters shouted “arrest Bush” as the president’s motorcade left. They held black balloons that said, “Troops home.”
He also visited a firehouse close by the ground zero construction site, shook hands with firefighters and entered a notyet-opened visitor center.
Some 2,749 died when the twin towers collapsed after being pierced by hijacked airliners. In all, some 2,973 died in the World Trade Center, Pennsylvania and Pentagon attacks, not counting the 19 hijackers.
The schedule for today included a visit to a firehouse nicknamed “Fort Pitt” in the Lower East Side in honor of the first responders who rushed into the towers.
At the base for Ladder 18, Engine 15 and Battalion 4, the president was to have breakfast with firefighters, police officers and Port Authority police and observe moments of silence to mark the times when planes struck each tower.
From New York, the next stop was to be Shanksville, Pa., where 40 people died when a plane slammed into the ground, and then the Pentagon, to mark the deaths of 184 there, before returning to the White House for the televised address.
At all three crash sites, each with memorials far from completion, Bush did not plan to participate in the official anniversary observances, intending to avoid the distraction that accompanies a presidential appearance.
In 2002, Bush also toured each crash site, embracing family members of the victims and speaking at the Pentagon and New York’s Ellis Island. Since then, he has kept a lower profile on the anniversary.