A Day of Remembrance

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President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush attend a ceremony at the base of Ground Zero to mark the five year anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. (Photo: Gary Fabiano-Pool via CNP/NewsCom)

By Catherine Gough
Scholastic Kids Press Corps

September 11, 2006

Silence settled over the construction site as President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush laid a wreath of remembrance at Ground Zero in New York City on Sunday. Only dignitaries and the press were on hand for the ceremony. With the President were New York Governor George Pataki, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

The five walked solemnly down a long ramp to the bottom of World Trade Center building site. A military color guard held flags at the foot of the ramp. Flags from all 50 states lined the right side of the ramp.

Wreaths of red, white, and blue flowers were placed in reflecting pools marking the center of where each of the two towers stood. Together the President and Mrs. Bush set the two wreaths afloat in shallow square pools of water. The sound of bagpipes broke the silencer as they walked from the footprint of the north tower to the reflecting pool marking where the south tower had stood.

The ceremony lasted only about 15 minutes. Three black SUVs, which had been parked under the ramp, transported the group of dignitaries to the top of the ramp. Everyone then transferred into limousines for the short ride to St. Paul’s Church for a prayer service.

Catherine Gough, Scholastic Kids Press Corps, at Ground Zero in New York City on September 10, 2006. In the background, the President and Mrs. Bush leave the site after laying wreaths. (Photo: Suzanne Freeman)

To get to the church, the President’s motorcade passed by a small group of protesters. About 70 to 100 people held signs and large black balloons. The balloons were printed with the phrase “Troops Home Now.” Protesters were chanting slogans against the President and the war in Iraq.

After the prayer service, the President’s motorcade made a surprise stop on Liberty Street at the site of the fire station across the street from where the World Trade Center towers once stood. He visited the fire station and its memorial plaque. He also viewed a display of photographs taken on 9/11.

On Monday, the President and Mrs. Bush had breakfast with firefighters before returning to Ground Zero. They will join members of victim’s families to remember the 2,752 people who died that day.

They are then scheduled to fly to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where they will board a helicopter. The chopper will take them about 60 miles to Shanksville, where United Flight 93 crashed into a field. The plane is believed to have been headed for the White House when passengers overtook the hijackers. It was the fourth of the 9/11 attacks.

Afterward, President Bush and Mrs. Bush will travel to the Pentagon, where they will lay a wreath near the site of one of the attacks.

The President will end the day or remembrance at the White House with a televised address to the nation.

 

Critical Thinking Question

Read today's news story, and then answer the following question.

A Day of Remembrance How has America changed since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001? How have you changed?

Join a discussion of this question on our bulletin board.

 

 

RELATED WEB SITE

Remembering 9/11

Scholastic News Online commemorates the fifth anniversary of the attacks on September 11, 2001.

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