Memorial ceremonies, lights in New York

(12 Sep 2007) SHOTLIST 1. Pan from flowers to man draped in US flag standing at fence 2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Jeffery M. Taormina, lost his brother Dennis Taormina: "It seemed like there was less people, which is kind of disheartening because I don't want anybody to forget about it. I want it to stay in American's minds, but having it in the park wasn't as bad as I thought it was going be. It was actually pretty nice." 3. Pull out of view through fence around Ground Zero ++NIGHT SHOTS++ 4. Wide shot of Manhattan skyline with beams of light 5. Tilt down beam of light 6. Midshot of beam of light 7. Skyline, with beams of light visible behind buildings STORYLINE Victims' families huddled under umbrellas in a park to mark the sixth anniversary of the September 11 attacks in the first remembrance ceremony not held at ground zero, an event that failed to evoke the same emotions as the hallowed ground of the World Trade Centre site. Around the country, Americans went through familiar mourning rituals Tuesday as they looked back on the day when militants hijacked four jetliners and killed nearly 3-thousand people. President George W. Bush attended ceremonies at the White House and the Pentagon, and the 40 passengers and crew members who died when a flight crashed into a Pennsylvania field were honoured as "citizen soldiers" by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. Presidential politics, the health of ground zero workers, and the continuing security threat loomed over the day's ceremonies. Hours before, a video from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was released, calling for sympathisers to join a "caravan" of martyrs. It served as a stark reminder that the United States has failed to catch the man believed to be behind the attacks. The Manhattan ceremonies were held largely in a public park because of ongoing construction at ground zero. The decision to hold the ceremony at the park prompted some families to skip this year's memorial, which was also the first time the commemoration has been held on a Tuesday, the day the attacks occurred in 2001. Jeffery M. Taormina, whose brother, Dennis Taormina, was killed, said he liked the ceremony, even if there may have been fewer people than last year. "It seemed like there was less people, which is kind of disheartening because I don't want anybody to forget about it," Taormina said. There were also a small number of protesters who claim that the towers were felled not by an airplane but by some other kind of bomb. Later on Tuesday at approximately 7:12 pm (2312 GMT ) two beams of light were turned on to mark ground zero, a display officially called "Tribute in Light". The twin pale blue beams of light will be seen over Manhattan in the misty night sky through the night and will be turned off at dawn Wednesday morning. Flight 93 was en route from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco when it crashed that day. It was the only one of the four planes hijacked on September 11 that did not reach its intended target, believed to be in Washington, DC. The total number of victims killed six years ago - 2,974 - includes 2,750 at the World Trade Centre site in New York City. Forty were killed in Pennsylvania and 184 died at the Pentagon. Those numbers do not include the 19 hijackers. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...