Hoosiers gather to remember Sept. 11 attacks

From the mournful tolling of church bells to the planting of a single tree, Indiana residents poignantly commemorated the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks Wednesday by honoring both the victims and the A who labored in the aftermath.\nThousands attended prayer vigils and memorial services across the state as flags fluttered at half-mast under blue skies. In some towns, church bells and fire whistles sounded at the moment hijacked jetliners crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. Others remembered the tragedy with a moment of silence.\nAt a ceremony on the west steps of the Statehouse in Indianapolis, the first row of 10 chairs sat empty, draped in black, for the 10 people with Indiana ties who died in the attacks or the ensuing war in Afghanistan.\n"I see those 10 empty chairs and my heart breaks for those left behind," Gov. Frank O'Bannon said. "But I see more than 300 other chairs that are filled with those who watched the planes hit, the towers fall and the Pentagon smashed, and they sprang into action instead of sitting in shock."\nO'Bannon then unveiled a monument, a replica of part of the newly rebuilt Pentagon that is constructed of Indiana limestone, that was placed on the south Statehouse lawn. It features a quote from President Bush: "Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings. But they cannot touch the foundation of America."\nIn Columbus, about 40 miles south of Indianapolis, more than a thousand people silently watched as a horse-drawn carriage bore a flag-draped, empty casket, topped by a police hat and a fire helmet, down Main Sreet.\n"We'll try to just have a little healing process today like everyone in the world will do," said Roger Johnson, a Bartholomew County volunteer firefighter. Johnson lost one of his best friends in the attacks -- a veteran New York City firefighter.\nMembers of the Evansville Fire Department were to dedicate a house Wednesday they built through Habitat for Humanity in memory of firefighters killed in the attacks.\nThe ceremony at the Indiana Statehouse was somber, with a ceremonial ringing of a firefighter's bell, a rifle salute and stories about the 10 Indiana victims. But for a brief moment, tears turned to boisterous cheers and applause as four F-16 fighter jets roared overhead at 350 mph then veered sharply left and out of sight over the RCA Dome.\nThe ceremony also paid tribute to Indiana's volunteer efforts after the attacks, when more than 310 Hoosiers traveled to New York City to aid the recovery and cleanup.\nAcross town, more than 150 homeless people held hands in a circle as they planted a tree in memory of those who died last Sept. 11.\n"People that are sleeping on the streets need a place to come and share their lives. The homeless have a really tough time venting or sharing their emotions with anyone," said Rick Posson, a spokesman for the Horizon House. "They're no different from everyone else. They love and they hate."\nRenee Haynes, 23, of Summittville was one of the many who attended a two-hour ceremony at the Grant County Courthouse in Marion. Holding her 5-week-old daughter Naomi in her arms, Haynes said she planned to record the event in the child's baby book.\n"We remember every day, but this is a day to remember as a group," she said. "Last year was a scary day, but this year it's just a day to remember those who died for our country."\nIn Osceola, about 12 miles east of South Bend, about 200 people attended a "Patriot Day Observance Ceremony" at a park for prayers, a moment of silence, a bagpipe playing "Amazing Grace" and six Boy Scouts raising the flag to half-staff.\nHurb Thompson, 77, an Elkhart veteran of World War II's Battle of Iwo Jima, said the ceremony was one of two he planned to attend Wednesday.\n"The patriotic response to the attacks that happened last September, it's amazing," Thompson said. "It's great to see how the American people came together"