The nation’s capital commemorated the attacks of September 11, with President Obama joining members of the White House staff for a moment of silence marking the hour when a hijacked plane struck the Pentagon, as another plane flying toward the capital crashed in a Pennsylvania field and two hit the World Trade Center towers.

Obama then crossed the Potomac River to speak briefly at a ceremony at the Pentagon, where American Airlines Flight 77, hijacked by five terrorists after taking off from Dulles International Airport bound for Los Angeles, crashed at 9.37 am.

An outdoor memorial now marks the spot with 184 benches, each representing one victim of the attack — 59 on the plane, and 125 on the ground.

“No turning of the seasons can diminish the pain and the loss of that day,” he told the crowd, which including Secretary of Defence Robert Gates, top military officers, and families of the victims.

He called it a time not only to remember the nation’s losses of the day and in the wars that ensued, but also to “renew our resolve against those who perpetrated this barbaric act and who plot against us still”.

Earlier in the day, it had been raining heavily until just before President and wife Michelle walked out onto the South Lawn of the White House at 8.46 am, the moment the first hijacked jet struck the World Trade Center. A bell sounded three solemn chimes as they bowed their heads.

Dressed in black, they held their hands to their hearts while a bugler sounded Taps.

... contd.