America responds: notebook

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 22, 2001

Trade Center memorial set for families

NEW YORK -- For nearly six weeks, workers have toiled night and day where the World Trade Center fell and buried thousands, stopping only long enough to salute as bodies are draped with the American flag and removed from the site.

Sunday, the city plans to halt operations on the heap of burning rubble to hold an interdenominational prayer service there for families of those who were lost in the terrorist attack, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said.

The mayor said families visiting the site over the weekend told him "it was very comforting in a strange way to actually be there and see the place where their loved one died, and maybe is buried."

"We'll try to get everybody there at once," the mayor said Sunday. "We'll suspend operations for a period of time."

It appeared that workers found a pocket of human remains Sunday afternoon, when nine bodies were seen being removed from the rubble of the north tower within about two hours. Firefighters nearby saluted in unison as the bodies slowly were driven away.

The number of missing at the trade center stood at 4,470, with 460 bodies recovered, 410 of which have been identified, according to the city's Office of Emergency Management. The total number of confirmed dead is 1,501.

Benefit shows in Nashville, D.C.

WASHINGTON -- Tens of thousands of music fans gathered in the capital Sunday to see Michael Jackson, 'N Sync, Aerosmith and an array of other pop stars at a marathon concert to celebrate America and raise money for victims of September's terrorist attacks.

"United We Stand: What More Can I Give?" raised about $2-million through the sale of more than 46,000 tickets. It was one of three benefit concerts over the weekend.

The Backstreet Boys sang the national anthem to kick off the sold-out show at RFK Stadium. "We can't let them defeat us," said band member Kevin Richardson. "We have to get up, get out and live our lives every day."

In Nashville, meanwhile, themes of patriotism, generosity and defiance of terrorism sounded as top country stars staged the third benefit concert of the weekend.

"Let freedom ring!" Martina McBride sang in the opening song, her hit about spousal abuse, Independence Day.

The crowd cheered at a later line which seemed aimed at terrorists who killed thousands on Sept. 11 in New York, Washington and rural Pennsylvania. "May the guilty pay," McBride sang.

Also on the lineup for the show were Alan Jackson, George Jones, Lonestar, Lee Ann Womack, Keith Urban, Sara Evans, Diamond Rio, Montgomery Gentry, Hank Williams Jr., Brooks & Dunn, Vince Gill, Trisha Yearwood, Tim McGraw, Earl Scruggs and Clint Black.

In Washington, James Brown took the stage dressed in a gold suit. He segued from his classic Sex Machine to God Bless America. The audience sang along to the latter and waved small American flags.

The crowd -- which had been on its feet for almost the entire concert -- sat down at one point at the request of Bette Midler. "I want to sing you a song not of sorrow but of hope," Midler said before her ballad, The Rose.

The crowd obliged, but was on its feet again when she finished.

Among the other performers were Mariah Carey and Destiny's Child. Parts of the concert will be televised in a two-hour special Nov. 1 on ABC.

Proceeds from the Washington concert will go to the American Red Cross Liberty Fund, the Salvation Army Relief Fund, the Pentagon Relief Fund and the Rewards for Justice Fund.

Nashville proceeds will go to the Salvation Army and for financial help for families affected by the suicide hijackings.

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