America falls silent to honour victims of 9/11 terror

The marking of the day known as 9/11, after the American style of writing dates with the month first, began with the first silent contemplation at 8.46am New York time – 1.46pm in Britain.

That was the time the first of the twin towers of the World Trade Centre erupted in flames after being struck by the first of the four suicide pilots despatched by terror chief Osama bin Laden in the name of jihad, or holy war.

The second tower went down 73 minutes later. And, sometimes forgotten, there were two more planes still flying on, to claim more victims on that day.

One ploughed into a wing of the Pentagon, in Washington, while a hijacked passenger aircraft crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after the passengers aboard rose up in revolt.

President Barack Obama and his Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, were in New York at the start of the day to join the mourning for the 2,753 people who died there.

There were silences in memory of each of the four explosions and the crowd in New York stayed largely silent during the reading of the names of the dead and tributes to them – although they broke into a cheer when one bereaved relative ended her tribute with “God bless New York and God bless America”.

Many sang along when Paul Simon performed a moving rendition of The Sound of Silence, ending with three chords sounding like the toll of bells.

President Obama was a little-known state senator at the time of the attacks.

On Saturday, after visiting the Arlington National Cemetery, he said in a radio broadcast: “A decade after 9/11, it’s clear for all the world to see – the terrorists who attacked us that September morning are no match for the character of our people, the resilience of our nation, or the endurance of our values.”

In Lower Manhattan yesterday morning, the pavements were packed with slow-moving crowds, trying to get as close as they could to Ground Zero, where the twin towers stood . At St Paul’s Chapel, opposite the site, railings were festooned with white ribbons.

Some people were in tears. Others were taking photographs.

Ground Zero itself has been turned into a memorial which was fully unveiled for the first time yesterday. The names of the victims are carved into low walls surrounding the two voids where the towers stood. Water cascades down the walls, over the names, into a pool at the bottom of each void.

Some relatives took rubbings of their loved ones’ names. Others simply wanted to touch the carved words.

Among those there were Jessica Pedraza, 20, who lost her uncle in the attack.

Edward Calderov was a New York Port Authority employee stationed in the twin towers.

Ms Pedraza, who was 10 at the time, said: “It still hurts, because no matter how many years go by it still feels like yesterday.”

Ms Pedraza was in US Army uniform, as was her mother Marilyn Gonzalez. Mrs Gonzalez signed up two years after her brother-in-law’s death. Her daughter joined the same unit in 2008 and both recently returned from active duty in Iraq.

Afghanistan and Iraq continue to add to the toll of 9/11. President Bush ordered the invasion of Afghanistan, backed by Tony Blair’s government in Britain, to try to find bin Laden, who ran the international guerilla army known as al-Qaida from its mountains.

But it took until this year for US forces to claim their country’s revenge. Meanwhile, the mission broadened into a “war on terror” that led to the invasion of Iraq.

Yesterday’s ceremonies took place against a background of fear that al-Qaida might also attempt to mark the anniversary. The US media said security services were acting on information that a lorry bomb could be the means.

President Obama said in his radio broadcast on Saturday: ”We face a determined foe and make no mistake – they will keep trying to hit us again.

“But as we are showing again this weekend, we remain vigilant. We’re doing everything in our power to protect our people.

“And no matter what comes our way, as a resilient nation, we will carry on.”

A torn and dust-impregnated Union Jack recovered from the wreckage of the twin towers is the centrepiece of an anniversary exhibition at the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester. It was donated to Britain on the first anniversary of 9/11. The Manchester exhibition also includes twisted steel from the World Trade Centre.