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By ALEX LEARY, Times Staff WriterVeterans, politicians and others reflected on the maelstrom of powerful emotions stirred by the anniversary of 9/11.
NEW PORT RICHEY - They came to remember a day of unthinkable horror, a moment in history so painful, so intense, it spread feelings of rage and vulnerability across America.
The feelings still linger two years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. One could tell that by wandering through the crowd assembled Thursday evening at Sims Park.
But in song, prayer and reflection, a more optimistic spirit reigned at the memorial. In message and mood, the event reflected, as the Rev. Ken Slattery put it, a "metamorphosis from anger into hope."
More than 900 people showed up at the park, many dressed in red white and blue or wearing T-shirts with FDNY and NYPD emblazoned on the fronts and backs. They wore yellow ribbons on their chests and swished tiny flags in the air.
It was a night of high pageantry, of white-gloved sheriff's deputies and firefighters decked in the deepest of blues. A stable of politicians, including Gov. Jeb Bush, were there. But the strongest, most sustained applause came for the retired New York City firefighters in attendance and for the veterans of war.
"Americans have gone through some hard times in the past two years," said New Port Richey Police officer Robert Close, a burly 36-year-old who made a trip to New York City in August to the site of the fallen World Trade Center towers. "But things like this help us get on. We can't let terrorists keep our spirit at bay."
Burt Green, 72, a Korean War veteran who lives in Bayonet Point, sat in a fold-out chair and looked over the crowd. "Sept. 11 brought out patriotism in America," he said. "It's a tough lesson that day brought."
Green, like many Americans, had a personal tie to Sept. 11. Friends of his in Waterford, N.Y., lost a son and son-in-law in the World Trade Center.
Behind him, workers were raising a 25-foot-tall American flag, which flapped among the live oaks that dot the park perimeter. Children, oblivious to the somber speeches coming from the stage before them, scrambled on the playground.
At 7:11 p.m., a KC-135 refueling plane from MacDill Air Force Base, flew overhead, and moments later the speeches began. "Today, our hearts ache," said Rev. Slattery, of Our Lady Queen of Peace. But he chose to dwell on the positive, the love and compassion people showed each other on and after Sept. 11, and the efforts to create a "more just and peaceful world."
Gov. Bush, who arrived at 7:03 to loud applause, carried on this thread. "I have to admit I have a sense of anger even today that this would happen to our great, free country," he began. "That we would be attacked because we are a beacon of freedom and liberty."
He went on: "The world watched our symbols fall but our resolve rise. The proud spirit that built the towers and the fortress of the Pentagon will never be conquered by hate. . . . Two years later we are stronger than ever. God bless America."
The governor laced his address with images of strangers helping strangers, people donating money and time to aid the victims and their families and of people being brave enough to once again board airplanes. The heroism is still present today, Bush said, in American soldiers and their efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"It is not in our nature to give up or give in," he said.