WE REMEMBER

Date: 12/09/02

By Martin Banks and David Cronin

A TEAR trickled down the face of James Deardon as he recalled that fateful New York morning a year ago.

The young US marine hoisted the American and EU flags outside the European Parliament at a ceremony to honour the 3,025 people who perished in the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001.

America's EU envoy, Rockwell Schnabel, European Commission chief Romano Prodi, Parliament President Pat Cox and Danish Europe Minister Bertel Haarder watched in respectful silence.

The instruments of the international band from SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) glinted as they played The Star Spangled Banner and a light rain fell almost as an epitaph for the fallen. Amid tight security, hundreds of people - young and old, the great and good - gathered outside the Parliament in Brussels yesterday to join nations around the world in remembering those who died.

Many waved the Stars and Stripes while others wore tiny badges showing both the EU and American flags.

All but one of the European Commissioners was present; the only absentee, Chris Patten, external relations commissioner, was in New York attending the commemorative ceremony there.

Commission Vice-President Neil Kinnock summed up the feelings of most of those present when he said: 'Today is a day to remember the horror suffered by the 3,025 who lost their lives on that terrible day and those who have suffered since.'

Twenty-year-old Deardon, a corporal with the US Marine Corps, found it hard to hold back his emotions as he and fellow marine, Sgt Christopher Shaw, slowly raised the EU and US flags outside the entrance to the Parliament's Paul Henri Spaak building.

'It was an honour to be part a commemoration to the tragic events of 11 September. It was a very touching event, perfectly in keeping with the occasion,' he said.

Among those at the event, the focus of the EU's commemorations, were 110 children, representing 27 countries, from the International School of Brussels.

They included 11-year-old Laurel Schwehr whose father, Mike, was attending a meeting close to the Pentagon when one of the hijacked jets slammed into the building.

'He said he'll never forget the sight and sound of the jet careering into the Pentagon. It was horrific,' she said.

Euna Park, 11, from South Korea, was clearly moved: 'Today's commemoration reminds me of the sacrifice made by all those people,' she said.

The children's teacher Pam McDonald said it had been hard to explain to them the events of 11 September, adding: 'The kids come from all over the world but were touched by what happened.'

A particularly poignant moment during the 30-minute event came when a six-strong ensemble from the Scandinavian School of Brussels sang the Sting song Fragile - reflecting the fragility of life - followed by an African song called Together, accompanied by the watching VIPs.

Inside the Parliament, Denmark's Europe minister and former MEP Bertel Haarder recalled how he learnt of the world's worst terrorist outrage a year ago. He was attending a meeting of the assembly's foreign affairs committee, when chairman Elmar Brok interrupted a vote to relay the breaking news from New York.

'I saw the terrible collapse [of the World Trade Center] on TV in my office facing Brussels Airport with airplanes starting and landing,' he told MEPs at yesterday's memorial sitting.

'One of these airplanes could have been heading towards this building. Remember the fourth plane [which crashed in Pennsylvania] was heading for Capitol Hill, the American parliament. Why not our Parliament?'

Commission President Romano Prodi said 11 September 2001 would be recorded as a 'day of infamy' in history books. 'The dreadful events of last year were a brutal reminder that peace, security and democracy cannot be taken for granted and that we must fight to defend them each and every day.

'But terror will not be defeated just by force of arms. We must look beyond, rooting it out wherever it finds fertile soil. We must tackle its deeper causes - poverty, discrimination and exclusion of all forms, breaking down the wall between north and south.'

Pat Cox, the Parliament's president, paid tribute to the firefighters and police who lost their lives, trying to rescue people in the Manhattan madness. They had shown 'the enduring values of public service in the midst of such adversity.'

The Irish Liberal also urged that the EU and US should jointly support 'a dialogue of cultures to ensure that there is no facile equation of fanaticism with religion or nationality'.

America's EU envoy Rockwell Schnabel (see speech opposite) stressed that both the US and Europe are united against terrorism, despite their disagreements over various policies. 'Partnership requires work,' he said.

'We can expect differences of opinion about how to achieve our common aims. These differences should not be ignored but neither should they be exaggerated.'

Schnabel was visibly moved by the ceremony.

When later opening an exhibition in the Parliament's foyer, he confessed he was on the verge of tears. The display featured the front pages of newspapers from across the globe on 12 September last year.

Most depicted the image with which 11 September has become synonymous: the Twin Towers, once proud symbols of America's power, engulfed in a fireball.

Article considers the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks in the United States on 11 September 2001.