Flood of Grief on 9/11 Anniversary

Amid Tributes, Reminders That Terror Threat Is Still Strong

At Arlington Cemetery, Cynthia Droz, center, is comforted at the tombstone of her husband, Charles Droz, who was aboard the plane that hit the Pentagon. (Gerald Martineau -- The Washington Post)

Hundreds of grieving family members gathered amid the white tombstones of Arlington National Cemetery yesterday to mark the third anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, as people across the nation observed the day with bagpipes and bugles, prayers and moments of silence.

From dawn until dusk, it was a day of mourning and solemn ceremony. New Yorkers converged on Ground Zero, where the names of the 2,749 people killed there were read aloud, often through tears and cracking voices. Bells rang out across the field in Shanksville, Pa., where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed, as 1,500 people paid their respects.

In Washington, President Bush and first lady Laura Bush observed a moment of silence on the south lawn of the White House at 8:46 a.m., when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. The victims of the Pentagon attack also were remembered at the Arlington County Courthouse, where a bell tolled 184 times, once for each one who died. Then, just before sunset, Fairfax High School's a cappella group sang "Amazing Grace" next to City Hall, and a lone bagpiper played as residents held candles.

With the tributes to the fallen came reminders that the war against terror continues, that it is still a time of color-coded warnings and constant threat. Volunteers in Alexandria urged passersby to remain vigilant as they distributed emergency preparedness kits.

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld told relatives and others at Arlington National Cemetery that "the wound that was opened three years ago will always be with us. We know that. Yet our grief has found its purpose. September 11th was a call to arms. And once again, brave men and women have deployed abroad to defend freedom."

It was clear across the region that despite the time that has passed since Sept. 11, 2001, wounds are still fresh.

"Even if it's three years later, I still have the same feeling," said Marinella Hemenway, 36, whose husband, Ronald John Hemenway, an electrical technician, was working at the Pentagon when he was killed.

She was one of about 500 family members at Arlington who mourned openly and together under blue skies that carried wisps of gray. But for Hemenway, crying represents progress. For the first year after the attacks, she stifled her tears, the shock of losing her husband so great, the emotions so overwhelming.

Her daughter, Desiree, now 3, is just now starting to understand that she doesn't have a father. "I miss my daddy," she cried as she got ready for bed recently.

"I don't even know if she remembers him," Hemenway said. "But there are pictures of him all over the house."

Kelly Jackson remembers the day all too well. She remembers her mother's instructions to go to their home in Lanham and wait for her father, Jimmie I. Holley, a Pentagon accountant, to call, and how the hours passed without a word.

Yesterday, Jackson was strong all through the early morning, even as she and family members placed flowers on Holley's grave. Then, at 9:37 a.m., during a moment of silence noting the time American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the west side of the Pentagon, the tears came. They continued through the speeches, until Jackson's 6-year-old daughter, Kayla, took a tissue and wiped her mother's eyes.

In addition to the scripted pageantry in Arlington and New York, there were smaller, more intimate ceremonies.

"This year, the family members wanted a quiet observance," said Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan, who joined about 50 people in Rockville's Courthouse Square Park at a memorial for 11 local victims. "There are no speeches. It's just a day to be with the family members and offer a silent prayer."