The nation paused today to mark the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks with a heartfelt ceremony at ground zero and other solemn remembrances around the country.
President Bush said history will look back at America's response to the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and conclude that "we did not tire, we did not falter and we did not fail."
Bush marked the seventh anniversary of the deadliest attack on U.S. soil with a moment of silence at the White House at 8:46 a.m., precisely the moment when terrorists crashed a hijacked airliner into the World Trade Center in New York. A second plane struck the trade center shortly thereafter. Another was flown into the Pentagon and still another crashed in a field at Shanksville, Pa.
At the dedication of a memorial at the Pentagon honoring those who died there, Bush said the terrorists could not break the resolve of the U.S. armed forces.
Relatives of victims killed at the World Trade Center gathered at ground zero in lower Manhattan for readings from dignitaries and a recitation of the names of the dead. Later today, presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain were due at ground zero to pay silent respects.
The ceremony at ground zero included moments of silence at 8:46 a.m. and 9:03 a.m. -- the times that two hijacked jets slammed into the twin towers. Two more moments of silence were to be held at the times the towers fell. Services were also being held in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon, where a new memorial will be dedicated.
