The tears just keep coming

For the second year, construction kept the main ceremony out of the excavated hole at ground zero, but many mourners bearing bouquets were escorted down a ramp to the towers8217; footprints. A few hours later, both major presidential candidates made the same trek into the pit.

The name of every victim was read aloud and announced by 105 pairs of readers. Each pair included a relative of a victim and a foreign student representing one of the 95 countries that lost someone in the carnage. It took more than three hours to intone all the names.

A bell chimed and the crowd fell silent at four moments: 8.46 am, when American Airlines Flight 11 struck the north tower; 9.03, when United Flight 175 hit the south tower; 9.59, when the south tower collapsed; and 10.29, when the north tower fell.

The reading of some names was accompanied by the release of heart-shaped balloons that drifted over the crowd and out of sight northward over the downtown skyline. When they came to their own son, daughter, husband or wife, many readers added a poignant personal note. 8220;Mommy and I wish you a happy birthday,8221; said one father.

The service opened with the display of the torn American flag that had flown over the World Trade Center and included brief inspirational readings by Governors David A Paterson of New York and Jon S Corzine of New Jersey, former mayor Rudolph W Giuliani, former Governor George E Pataki, and Michael Chertoff, the secretary of homeland security.

Along Broadway, thousands of onlookers strained against police barricades to catch a glimpse of the ceremony unfolding against a backdrop of construction cranes. One young woman in a white dress shirt and pearls stopped to observe the moment of silence amid the bustle. She closed her eyes, nodded her head and began to sway ever so slightly from side to side. And when the bells stopped, she opened her eyes to let tears stream down her cheeks.

A male hand reached out to squeeze her shoulder, and she leaned into her companion, wiping the tears away.

As in the city on September 11, 2001, and in the days after, grief mixed with polarized political opinions.

About four dozen people protested near Church and Vesey streets wearing black T-shirts emblazoned with slogans like 8220;Investigate 9/11 8212; honour the fallen with the relentless pursuit of truth8221; and 8220;9/11 was an inside job8221;. At a small plaza near Liberty Street, a shouting match broke out about terrorism and politics, but the police quickly broke it up.

Around 4 pm, the two major presidential nominees, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, walked together down the ramp, with McCain8217;s wife, Cindy, and Mayor Bloomberg behind them. Michelle Obama was home in Chicago with the couple8217;s daughters.

At firehouses around the city, the day was marked with solemnity. At Engine 4 and Ladder 15 on South Street, firefighters in navy blue dress uniforms lined up in rows to observe the moments the two planes struck and the towers crumbled. The two companies lost 14 members on September 11, 2001.

At 8.46 in Park Slope, 24 firefighters from Engine Company 220, Engine Company 239 and Ladder Company 122 stood in dress uniforms outside their side-by-side firehouses on 11th Street. The flag was at half-staff. A buzzer went off. A voice on a loudspeaker said, 8220;We will now observe a moment of silence for all members of the department who gave their lives on September 11, 2001.8221;

United in grief, BUT a DAY later, back to the big fight

John McCain and Barack Obama above visited Ground Zero in New York to remember and mourn the 9/11 tragedy. As soon as the day passed, however, the attacks at each other returned. Obama was first off the blocks on Friday, his campaign releasing a TV ad that mocked Mccain as an out-of-touch, out-of-date computer illiterate.

Obama8217;s new, vicious fighting spirit comes as McCain gains in the polls, with some Democrats expressing concern that the Obama campaign has not been aggressive enough. The campaign says the escalation will involve advertising and pushes by both Obama and Joe Biden.