A SOMBER TRIBUTE TO OUR SLAIN BROTHERS & SISTERS
By JOSEPH MOLLICA and STEPHANIE GASKELL

With trembling voices and torn hearts, the brothers and sisters of Sept. 11 victims read the names of the dead yesterday at the sprawling gap where the Twin Towers once stood, as New York and the world marked the fourth anniversary of the terror attacks.

They stood in pairs at podiums overlooking the yawning hole and offered tearful personal messages of love to their lost siblings as weeping mourners descended a ramp to two reflecting pools on the floor of the site.
Relatives of the 2,749 World Trade Center victims filled the water with red, orange and yellow roses, some shaking as they inscribed dedications on the pools' wooden rim.

"It seems like it gets harder the longer time goes by," said Desiree Gerasimovich, who asked her sister Pamela Boyce, 43, to "keep looking over us" when she read her name. "It's that much longer we've been without her."

Nancy Brennan-Pouis, who is pregnant, told her brother Peter Brennan when reading his name, "If it's a boy in December, we're taking your name."

In the past, the four-hour recitation of the names fell to the children, parents and grandparents of victims. Siblings of those who perished said yesterday that they appreciated having a chance to play a more personal role in the ceremony.

Some of the readers, as a form of protest, made a point to reference the controversial plans for cultural centers to accompany a memorial at the site.

"I pray that we succeed in our efforts to preserve your memory and legacy," one woman said.

A man was more blunt, saying to his brother, "Don't worry, Jimmy, we're going to take back the memorial."

The ceremony paused for moments of silence four times — at 8:46 a.m. and 9:03 a.m. to mark the moments when the two hijacked planes struck the towers, and at 9:59 a.m. and 10:29 a.m., when the south and north towers fell.

Many relatives looked up into the bright blue sky during the pauses, as if trying to recall how the towers appeared that crystal clear morning before the world changed.

Others bowed their heads in tears. Some held up photos of their loved ones.

"He's looking down on me every day saying, 'Don't do this to yourself, don't be hurt.' But it does hurt," said Linda Bowman, 46, of her fallen husband, Larry Bowman.

Similarly somber scenes of remembrance played out around the city and across the country — with a "freedom walk" near the Pentagon and a gathering at a lonely patch of earth in Pennsylvania where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed.

Just blocks from Ground Zero, former Windows on the World employees tossed 73 roses into the Hudson River in memory of each of their lost colleagues.

"It's not a very good morning," said former kitchen worker Howard Christiansen.

"They say time heals all wounds, but in my experience, some have healed, but not all."

At St. Paul's Church, which sat in the shadow of the Twin Towers, Marissa John, 19, attended an afternoon service in memory of her father, Charles John, who used to pray with her there.

"This whole thing breaks my heart, but I feel better for having come here," John said. "I still love him and miss him."

At Engine Co. 205/Ladder Co. 118 in Brooklyn Heights, veterans of one of the city's hardest-hit units gathered.

"It's still the same, it feels like yesterday," said Robert Wallace Jr., whose father, a lieutenant, was one of eight firefighters in the company who died saving others.

At Ground Zero, Mayor Bloomberg opened with words of condolence for those whose lives were shattered by the hurricane and the terrorist bombings in London.

Bloomberg, who chose siblings to read the names, said the bonds of brothers and sisters are like no others.

"Siblings know each other as no other person ever can — the one you depend on to walk with you, in times of trouble and in times of joy," he said. "As we listen today to the sisters and brothers, we are reminded that there are ties between all men and women."

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani noted that he does not have siblings, but said the men and women who died in the World Trade Center "helped to save the spirit of our nation on the day of its greatest attack" and that "they're all heroes."

In his remarks, Gov. Pataki said, "Every year that we return here on the anniversary of that terrible day, we come to keep a promise — to remember those who died, not just as names or as part of a large number, but as individuals whose lives still burn bright."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice read a work by poet Christina Rossetti after the second moment of silence. New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey also addressed the crowd, which was noticeably smaller than in previous years.

There were no major protests at the site, but some people held signs that read, "Bush engineered 9/11," and "Attacking Iraq for 9/11 is the equivalent of attacking Mexico for Pearl Harbor."

Two light beams, inspired by the Twin Towers and known as the Tribute in Light, shot skyward after sunset and were to fade out at dawn today.

Additional reporting by Ikimulisa Livingston, Greg Bensinger, Patrick Gallahue, Jenni Leszkiewicz and David Andreatta