9/11 anniversary becomes day of service

As America gathers to remember those killed during the 9/11 attacks in 2001, many are drawing upon the spirit of those that rushed to aid the wounded on that day, by finding ways to give something back to the community or city they live in.

Earlier this year, President Obama declared that September 11 should become a day of service to honour those killed and today, across the United States, millions of Americans are giving something back.

In New York, a fundraiser to repair storm damage at Central Park, beach cleanups and repairs of homeless shelters were among the organized efforts to give back to the city. A Boston group founded by victims' family members - two of the four planes left from Boston - planned to write letters to US soldiers overseas and pack care packages.

Meanwhile, in San Jose, California, volunteers planned to plant fruit and vegetable gardens for low-income families. Contributions have ranged from the essential to the more artistic, such as in Cleveland, Ohio where a group has taken to painting flower vases and sleeping cats resting on windowsills on boarded-up, abandoned properties in a run-down Slavic neighbourhood.

Despite this projects, some feel this 'day of service' has detracted from the full horror of 9/11 causing many to lose focus on the significance of the day.

Debra Burlingame, whose brother died at the Pentagon, told the Associated Press news agency, "I greatly fear at some point we'll transition to turning it into Earth Day where we go and plant trees and the remembrance part will become smaller."

Around the rest of the country, remembrance services will be held to mark the eighth anniversary of the hijacked plane attacks of 11 September 2001 that saw nearly 3,000 people killed.

President Obama will join defence secretary Robert Gates at the Pentagon, where 184 people died, to meet members of victims' families and lay a wreath.

There will be also be traditional ceremonies such as moments of silence (four in New York, one each for the times the two planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers and for the collapse of the buildings) and the reading of the names of the victims at the sites of the attacks.

The site of the World Trade Centre, Ground Zero, still remains a construction site despite plans for a 9/11 memorial, a museum and five new skyscrapers. The delays have been numerous, caused by political arguments and financial and legal disputes, but the developers still believe the project will be finished by 2018.

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