Nellis, nation mark three-month anniversary of Sept. 11 attacks

Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2001 | 9:30 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

About 400 Nellis Air Force Base troops lined up before sunrise today around Building No. 1 -- the American flag -- to mark without fanfare or speeches the three-month anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

A color guard raised the flag at 5:46 a.m., which was 8:46 a.m. Eastern Standard Time -- the exact moment when the first hijacked plane exploded into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. The troops saluted as a recording of "The Star-Spangled Banner" played over loudspeakers into cold, wet air.

Similar ceremonies were observed simultaneously at the White House and around the world as faith in America was reaffirmed and the victims remembered.

In New York, firefighters and construction workers at ground zero stopped machinery to observe a moment of silence. In Connecticut, striking workers at jet-engine maker Pratt & Whitney stopped picketing, took off hats and observed a moment of silence.

"It was a very simple ceremony, but we're making sure America and the world knows we've not forgotten 9/11," Lt. Col. Joan Ferguson, a Nellis Air Base spokeswoman, said.

In the East Room of the White House, President George Bush spoke following a drum roll that preceded the playing of the national anthem. The president vowed to "right this huge wrong."