Sept. 11, five years later: ‘We stand together’

Cheney speaks at Pentagon
At a memorial observance near the site where an American Airlines plane slammed into the Pentagon five years ago, Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld walked side-by-side to the speaker’s platform as somber music played. Rumsfeld’s arm was in a sling; he is recovering from shoulder surgery.

“We have no intention of ignoring or appeasing history’s latest gang of fanatics trying to murder their way to power,” the vice president said.

Rumsfeld appeared to struggle with his emotions as he recalled the day of the attacks. “I remember working through that long, tragic day.”

A moment of silence was observed at 9:37 a.m. EDT, the exact time the plane struck, killing 184 people.

At the State Department, two relatives of victims, one born in China and the other in Bangladesh, read off the names of the more than 90 countries that lost nationals. A Navy seaman sounded a bell after each country was announced.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the terrorists struck “not only at our people but at the noblest aspirations of all people.”

Moment of silence at Justice
At the Justice Department, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales led a moment of silence with families of 9/11 victims.

Among those attending were families who attended the penalty trial of al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui as well as former Solicitor General Ted Olson, whose wife, Barbara, was aboard the flight that crashed into the Pentagon.

After spending the night in New York, Bush opened the anniversary day with breakfast at a historic Lower East Side firehouse nicknamed “Fort Pitt,” in honor of the many first responders who burst into the towers to save lives but lost their own. Outside, with fire trucks and police vehicles as a backdrop, Bush and several dozen firefighters, city police and Port Authority officers were joining in a moment of silence to mark the times when hijacked planes crashed into the two towers.

Later in the day, he placed a wreath at the spot in Shanksville where Flight 93 was diverted from its murderous intentions into the ground and was appearing at the rebuilt Pentagon wall where another hijacked jetliner pierced the most enduring symbol of American military might.

Prime-time speech to the nation
Bush concludes the observance with a 9 p.m. EDT address to the nation from the White House. With these events, he abandoned the quiet approach he has adopted in recent years to mark the day of America’s worst-ever terrorist attack.

Bush’s tour was rife with symbols that recalled the devastation of the day, and the high point of his presidency that followed.

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