THE United States and the world remembered the unforgettable yesterday.

　　A cascade of memorial events around the globe marked a moment, the echoes of  which still resound from New York to Afghanistan, and everywhere in between — a moment that even a year later left many transfixed by the horror, burdened by sadness, plagued by fears.

　　"A day of tears," said U.S. President George W. Bush, "and a day of prayer, and a day of national resolve."

　　It was a day, too, of jitters and heightened security. Officials issued a "code orange" alert and warned that terrorists who struck last Sept. 11 might strike again.

　　The world also went on terror alert.  U.S. embassies and those of America's closest allies closed in nine countries. Jitters about new terrorist attacks also translated into stricter security at airports, government and private offices, tourist spots and other key sites that could become targets of terror attacks.

　　The anniversary of the attacks that leveled the World Trade Center, cratered the Pentagon and brought death to the Pennsylvania countryside began far away from those places, in New Zealand, with the first line of the Requiem Mozart finished in his dying days.

　　"Requiem aeternam dona ets, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ets," sang the Orlando Singers Chamber Choir at St. Luke's Presbyterian Church in Rumuera: "Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine on them."

　　Choirs in 20 time zones around the world sang those words, each of them beginning at 8:46 a.m., local time — the instant when American Airlines Flight 11, its controls taken by murderers, sliced through a crystalline blue sky to demolish the World Trade Center's north tower.

　　In the days that followed, New Yorkers became accustomed to the wail of bagpipes at hundreds of funerals for firefighters and police. Early yesterday, bagpipers and drummers assembled for a relay — from the five boroughs, two at a time, to the World Trade Center.

　　Later in the day, moments of silence were scheduled there — at 8:46 a.m. (9:46 p.m. Beijing Time), when the first plane hit, and at 10:28 a.m., when the second tower fell. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was scheduled to lead a parade of dignitaries reading the 2,801 victims' names in alphabetical order.

　　President Bush planned stops in Washington, Pennsylvania and New York, finishing the day with a 9 p.m. speech to the nation from Ellis Island.

　　But while the focus is on the places that suffered the most, ceremonies marking Sept. 11 — prayer, the tolling of bells, candlelight vigils, releases of doves and balloons, riderless horses, flags at half-staff, moments of silence and others of music — were everywhere.

　　The stock exchanges delayed their openings until after 11 a.m. Telemarketers hung up their phones.

　　Some airlines — still struggling to regain passenger traffic they lost a year ago — scaled back their schedules, as travelers avoided the skies on this day.

　　(SD-Agencies)