Bowing their heads in silence, relatives of Sept. 11 victims and others around the country have been marking the moments when hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center, Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field six years ago.

With gray skies and rain providing a grim backdrop, relatives of World Trade Center victims assembled at a lower Manhattan park to mark the sixth anniversary of the attacks.

As the names echoed, family members marched into the pit at ground zero to remember their relatives whose lives ended. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff assured the relatives of those who died at the Pentagon that their loved ones will always be remembered.

Speaking at the wall where the plane broke through six years ago, Gen. Peter Pace said he didn't have the right words to show what their "fellow citizens are thinking today." But he said he hopes that these observances help lessen their pain.

Bush Takes Part In Moment Of Silence

At 8:46 a.m. Tuesday, members of the White House staff, from Cabinet members to janitors, fell silent. They, along with the president, marked the moment a jetliner slammed into the World Trade Center six years ago.

Among those crowding onto the White House lawn was former chief of staff Andrew Card, the man who broke the news to Bush on the day of the attacks.

The president didn't speak. The Marine band, stationed behind him on the South Portico, played "God Bless America." And then he and the first lady walked inside.

The ceremony has been repeated every year since the attacks. The president began the day at a prayer service at St. John's Episcopal Church. The Rev. Luis Leon said religious faiths have their differences, but they all strive for peace, love and justice.

9/11 Burn Victim Calls Survival A Miracle

An Army officer who was severely burned on 9/11 by the jet that crashed into the Pentagon said it's a miracle he survived.

Retired Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell said he was engulfed in flames and was nearly crushed by the blast as the plane penetrated the building and exploded just yards away from him.

He told hundreds at a Pentagon memorial service that he shouted, "Jesus, I'm coming to see you." Instead, through what he calls the miracle of a sprinkler that kept working, Birdwell barely survived burns over 60 percent of his body and a long, painful rehabilitation.

Birdwell now serves as president of Face the Fire Ministries, which helps other burn victims. He said God is the source of life, but terrorism is a "subculture that has a love of death."