| Ceremonies to
commemorate terror attacks
AT 8:46 a.m. Sept. 11, bells will ring in firehouses and
churches across the United States. The strains of Mozart’s
Requiem will be heard in time zones worldwide, performed by
symphonies and school choirs.Splinters of the destroyed
buildings will be on display in states such as Nevada,
Tennessee, Ohio and Wyoming. Americans will gather at public
plazas and government buildings in cities and towns across the
country for moments of silence and remembrances.At the
epicenters of the attacks, in New York City, the Pentagon, and
a rural Pennsylvania town, government leaders will join
victims’ families in remembering the first anniversary of the
attacks. In Boston, where terrorists boarded the planes that
destroyed the World Trade Center, all takeoffs and landings
will halt for a minute at the moment the first tower was
struck a year ago.But the day will also be marked in smaller
ways, with candlelight vigils, music and prayer services in
thousands of American communities that felt the shock waves.As
part of the so-called Rolling Requiem, organized by a group of
Seattle singers, Mozart’s work will be performed at 8:46 a.m.
local time in at least 21 time zones around the world,
including 43 states and 24 countries.In addition to
remembering those who died and honoring police, firefighters
and the military, event organizers are using the anniversary
to honor the fundamental American freedoms that were attacked
that day.At ground zero, New York Governor George Pataki will
read the Gettysburg Address and New Jersey Governor Jim
McGreevey will read parts of the Declaration of
Independence.The Library of Virginia will display the state’s
1789 original manuscript copy of the proposed United States
Bill of Rights, with its original 12 amendments.Public schools
in several states will honor the day with special events,
including a moment of silence at 9:40 a.m. in all Washington,
D.C. classrooms. That is the time when a plane carrying three
of the district’s students and three teachers struck the
Pentagon.In Augusta, Georgia, children at some elementary
schools will dress in red, white and blue, while other
students will gather around the flag pole to sing God Bless
America.Traffic will stop for a minute at 9 a.m. in Carlisle,
Pennsylvania. Planes will perform flyovers in states including
Colorado, Iowa Atlanta. Doves of peace will be released in
Reno, Nevada.And in Hawaii, the last U.S. state where Mozart’s
Requiem will be played, the islands’ four mayors are inviting
people to step outside their homes, classrooms and workplaces
to observe a moment of silence.(SD-Agencies)
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