U.S. remembers 9/11 attacks in silence

By Edith Honan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Americans stood in silence to remember the nearly 3,000 people killed in the September 11 attacks on Tuesday as Osama bin Laden resurfaced to praise the suicide hijackers who carried them out six years ago to the day.

New Yorkers observed silent moments at the very times jets crashed into the World Trade Center towers and when each tower collapsed. Ceremonies took place also at the Pentagon and at a Pennsylvania field where the third and fourth planes crashed.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates vowed revenge on anyone who might attack the United States.

"The enemies of America, the enemies of our values and our liberty, will never again rest easy for we will hunt them down relentlessly and without reservation," he said in Washington outside the section of the Pentagon that was struck.

Bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader behind the attacks, defied the United States with a new audiotape. On it, he praised "the 19 champions" who hijacked the U.S. planes and crashed them.

In New York, bagpipes played, accompanied by a steady drum beat, in a park neighboring the former disaster site known as Ground Zero, which is now a busy construction zone. Church bells pealed to mark the moment.

"Six years have passed, and our place is still by your side," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told the gathered family and friends of those who died.

Rain fell on the somber ceremony, where many wore funereal black to remember the 2,750 killed when the towers fell. Their names were read aloud, taking hours, in what has become an annual tradition.

In all, 2,993 people died, including the 19 hijackers.

President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and their wives led a moment of silence on the White House lawn at 8:46 a.m., when the first plane struck in New York.

'GOD BLESS AMERICA'

About 200 Republican and Democratic lawmakers gathered, as they did on the night of the attacks, on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, and sang "God Bless America" on Monday night.

"Six years ago, Republicans and Democrats stood united on these steps, and we stand united again today," House of Representatives Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio said.

Near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, hundreds gathered in the field where United Flight 93 crashed after passengers fought al Qaeda hijackers in the cockpit.

September 11 fell on a Tuesday for the first time since 2001, adding to the meaning of the day for many.