Towers of Light cap WTC memorial

NEW YORK - As dusk fell over lower Manhattan, twin towers of light pierced the sky like the ghostly outlines of skyscrapers, capping a solemn day of memorials to the victims of the nation&#39;s deadliest act of terrorism. <br> <br> The columns of light, visible for miles, were greeted with cheers across the city Monday, six months after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. <br> <br> ``The lights will reach up to the skies and into heaven, near where the heroes are now,&#39;&#39; said Arthur Leahy, who stood holding a picture of his brother James Leahy, a New York police officer who died in the attacks. <br> <br> <br> The lighting ceremony concluded a day of tributes from Boston and rural Pennsylvania to the nation&#39;s capital, where President Bush offered words of resolve at a White House ceremony attended by more than 100 ambassadors as well as victims&#39; relatives and members of Congress. <br> <br> ``There can be no peace in the world where differences and grievances become an excuse to target the innocent for murder,&#39;&#39; Bush said. ``Against such an enemy, there is no immunity, and there can be no neutrality.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> At the Pentagon, where 189 people died on Sept. 11, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld met with military leaders from nations in the anti-terrorism coalition. <br> <br> And in Shanksville, Pa., church bells tolled at 10:06 a.m. in memory of the 44 victims aboard United Flight 93, the fourth hijacked jet to crash that day. It went down in the countryside, apparently after some of the passengers fought back.<br> <br> ``This is hallowed ground. This is where the first battle in the war on terrorism happened,&#39;&#39; said Marcy Nacke, whose brother-in-law Louis Nacke was a passenger aboard the flight. ``It was the battle of Shanksville.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> In New York, relatives of some of the thousands killed stood and watched as 12-year-old Valerie Webb activated 88 powerful searchlights arranged to simulate the lost twin towers. Her father, Port Authority police officer Nathaniel Webb, still hasn&#39;t been found in the ruins nearby. <br> <br> ``At that hour we saw the worst of mankind,&#39;&#39; Gov. George Pataki said. ``We saw the face of evil.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani told the crowd it must look to the victims ``for our inspiration and our sense of purpose. They would want us to lift up our heads very, very high.&#34;<br> <br> As the memorial of light slowly gained power, soprano Jessye Norman sang ``America the Beautiful.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> New Yorkers cheered from their rooftops as the lights were illuminated. And in New York Harbor, more than 100 relatives of those killed watched from a boat. <br> <br> The ``Tribute in Light&#39;&#39; memorial will shine each night until April 13. <br> <br> Earlier, during a ceremony at Battery Park near the trade center site, several hundred people paused for moments of silence at 8:46 a.m. and 9:03 a.m., the times two planes hit the towers.<br> <br> A pile of flowers and pictures of the dead and missing grew at the base of ``The Sphere,&#39;&#39; a damaged steel and bronze sculpture that once stood in the trade center plaza and has been dedicated as a temporary memorial. <br> <br> Ray Morales, who lost his nephew, fire department paramedic Ricardo Quinn, said: ``Knowing that everyone cares and are feeling the pain we feel is comforting. We really are one big, large New York City family.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> In Afghanistan, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul flew the Stars and Stripes at half-staff to mark the six months that have passed. Embassy personnel gathered as U.S. Marine guards lowered the flag and a bugle sounded in the background. <br> <br> ``Never again, never again,&#39;&#39; said acting U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, who saw the trade center on fire from his airplane seat shortly after the attacks.<br> <br> ``We&#39;ve won the war,&#39;&#39; he said. ``We have to win the peace.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Canada&#39;s House of Commons held a moment of silence to honor the victims of the terrorist attacks, which killed about two dozen Canadians. <br> <br> And in Rome, U.S. Ambassador to Italy Mel Sembler praised the world for the cooperation it showed following the attacks. <br> <br> ``The hope we take from these attacks is a new determination to work together to create a peaceful and prosperous world,&#39;&#39; he said. ``It is not in our buildings that we find our strength but in ourselves.&#39;&#39;