New York: Obama, Bush Lead 9/11 Ceremony

Thousands mourn at Ground Zero...
President Obama and First Lady Obama joined thousands of family members of those lost on Sept. 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan to begin the Nation's day of mourning for the tenth anniversary of the terror attacks. President George W. Bush, in office during the attacks, and First Lady Laura Bush joined Mr. and Mrs. Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to mark the harrowing anniversary. (Above: The two Presidents and their wives at the Memorial, just before the ceremony)

The Presidential couples were separated from the crowd behind a wall of bulletproof glass. The skies were clear and sunny, as they were a decade ago. It was the first time the two Presidents have visited the hallowed ground together.

In May, Mr. Bush declined President Obama's invitation to join him at Ground Zero, days after Osama bin Laden was killed. There were no formal remarks: President Obama read Psalm 46 -- “God is our refuge and strength”-- while President Bush read a letter from President Abraham Lincoln. In between, family members of the those who had been killed in the terror attack read the names aloud, from a podium on the flag-draped stage.

At 8:46 a.m., the time the first plane struck the North Tower, bells tolled and the crowd paused in silence. At 9:03, there was more silence to mark the moment when the second plane hit the South Tower. (Above: Families held photos of their lost loved ones)

The memorial at the site, two reflecting pools built in the footprints of the Twin Towers, opened during the ceremony to the family members of the dead. The pools are near the construction site of a new tower, 1 World Trade Center, a $3.2 billion, 1,776-foot building that has reached the 80th of its planned 104 floors. Security in New York was intense, following credible threats of terrorist acts.

A White House video of the full ceremony:



“The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved. He uttered his voice. The earth melted. The Lord of Hosts is with us," President Obama read from Psalm 46. "The God of Jacob is our refuge. Come behold the works of the Lord who has made desolations in the Earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the Earth.”

The President's reading:



President Bush's reading of Lincoln's letter drew cheers from the crowd. It was written in 1864 to Lydia Bixby, a woman who lost her five sons in the Civil War.

"I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice on the altar of freedom," President Bush read.

Before the memorial ceremony, the Presidents and their wives walked along the walls of the memorial. Led by President Obama, they ran their hands over the 2,983 names of the dead etched onto the walls of the reflecting pools. (Above: President Obama at the reflecting pool)

The presidential foursome were silent as New York First Responders unfurled an American flag damaged in the attacks. A youth chorus sang “The Star Spangled Banner.” The flag was folded as bagpipers played.

The President and Mrs. Obama departed the ceremony as the names of the deceased were still being read, heading for Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to visit the site of the crash of United Airlines Flight 93.

Today the President and Mrs. Obama will also visit the Pentagon, where another plane struck. Tonight, the President speaks at the “Concert for Hope” at the Kennedy Center. (Above: The President and Mrs. Obama hug family members in the crowd)

On Saturday, the President and Mrs. Obama visited Arlington National Cemetery, where they walked, holding hands, through graves in Section 60, the resting place for heroes lost in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the afternoon, the First Family performed community service at DC Central Kitchen as part of the September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance.

The text of President's Obama's version of Psalm 46, from the White House:

God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore, we will not fear,
even though the earth be removed,
and though the mountains be carried
into the midst of the sea.
Though its waters roar and be troubled,
though the mountains shake
with its swelling,
there's a river
whose streams shall make glad
the City of God,
the holy place of the Tabernacle
of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her.
She shall not be moved.
God shall help her
just at the break of dawn.
The nations raged,
the kingdoms were moved.
He uttered his voice.
The earth melted.
The Lord of Hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge.
Come behold the works of the Lord
who has made desolations in the Earth.
He makes wars cease
to the ends of the Earth.
He breaks the bough
and cuts the spear in two.
He burns the chariot in fire.
Be still and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations.
I will be exalted in the Earths.
The Lord of Hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge.
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Above: President Obama shakes hands with family members at the memorial.

*AP photos