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In New York, Washington and elsewhere, the nation has been marking the seventh anniversary of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks with solemn memorial services and heartfelt tributes. Mona Ghuneim reports from VOA's New York Bureau.

Seven years after the attacks, New Yorkers gathered at the site where the World Trade Center towers once stood.

A woman pauses before throwing a rose into reflecting pool during commemoration ceremony at Ground Zero, in New York, 11 Sep 2008

As in years past, the New York ceremony included four moments of silence - marking the times that hijacked airplanes crashed into the twin towers and the times when each building collapsed.

This year, family members and students representing the homelands of the victims read aloud the names of more than 2,700 people who died in New York.

The city's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, presided over the anniversary event. He said the country came together to bear witness to the "day, which began like any other and ended as none ever has."

"We return this morning as New Yorkers, Americans and global citizens remembering the innocent people from 95 nations and territories that lost their lives together that day," Bloomberg said.

US President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush stand during moment of silence commemorating 7 year anniversary of September 11th attacks on US from the South Lawn of White House, 11 Sep 2008

In Washington, President Bush and first lady Laura Bush observed a moment of silence at the White House. The president then attended the dedication of a new September 11th memorial at the Pentagon, where 184 people died when another hijacked plane crashed into the building.

The Pentagon memorial is the first of three major September 11 memorials to be completed. It is made up of stone benches, each engraved with a victim's name. The president says he hopes the memorial will provide some peace and comfort to the victims' friends and families.

"People from across our nation will come here to remember friends and loved ones who never had the chance to say goodbye," Mr. Bush said. "A memorial can never replace what those of you mourning a loved one have lost."

Services were also held in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where 44 people died aboard a fourth hijacked plane that crashed into a field, apparently after passengers aboard the craft tried to overcome their captors.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain attended the ceremony in Pennsylvania before heading to New York. In Shanksville, McCain paid special tribute to the passengers aboard that flight, who are believed to have disrupted the hijackers' plan to attack another target in Washington.

"I have had the great honor and privilege to witness great courage and sacrifice for America's sake, but none greater than the sacrifice of those good people who grasped the gravity of the moment, understood the threat and decided to fight back at the cost of their lives," McCain said.

McCain and his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, are expected to appear together at Ground Zero later in the day to pay their silent respects. Laying politics aside for the day, they will place wreaths at the World Trade Center site and later speak at a forum on public service at Columbia University.

As in years past, two bright blue light beams will shine all night over New York City from the spot where the fallen towers stood.

By Mona Ghuneim
New York
11 September 2008