Obama calls on US to renew 9/11 spirit of service

[September 11, 2008]  CHAMPION, Pa. (AP) -- On the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama called on Americans to renew "that spirit of service and that sense of common purpose" that followed the terrorist assaults that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Obama and his rival for the presidency, Republican John McCain, were to appear together twice Thursday, having agreed to suspend all TV ads critical of each other to commemorate the day terrorists forced four airplanes to crash into the World Trade Center towers in New York City, a field in Shanksville, Pa., and the Pentagon in Washington.

In a statement issued Thursday morning, Obama repeated a criticism often leveled from the campaign trail against the Bush administration: The terrorists responsible for the attacks remain at large and "must be brought to justice."

"On 9/11, Americans across our great country came together to stand with the families of the victims, to donate blood, to give to charity, and to say a prayer for our country. Let us renew that spirit of service and that sense of common purpose," he said.

The 2001 attacks transformed the nation in many ways, and one is that every anniversary since has found those holding or seeking office struggling for ways to appropriately pay homage.

McCain was to speak briefly at a ceremony near the Shanksville crash site, alongside other dignitaries and relatives of the 40 passengers and crew who were killed there. Investigators believe passengers rushed the cockpit of United Airlines Flight 93 to thwart terrorists' plans to use that plane as a weapon like the others.

In the afternoon, in New York, Obama and McCain were to visit ground zero together for a somber, silent wreath-laying in the pit that marks the largest loss of life in the attacks.

That appearance was to be followed by another in the evening at a Columbia University forum to discuss their views on public service.

Obama's only other planned outing Thursday was lunch in New York with former President Clinton.

Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, was to mark the anniversary at an American Legion post in suburban Cleveland with an invitation-only gathering of area police, firefighters and other first responders.

A joint statement from the campaigns announcing their decision to visit ground zero together said they wanted to do so in thanks for all emergency responders who served during and after the attacks as well as the military troops still defending the nation.

"We will put aside politics and come together to renew that unity, to honor the memory of each and every American who died, and to grieve with the families and friends who lost loved ones," the statement said.

The two candidates last appeared together in August when they shook hands at minister Rick Warren's megachurch in Orange County, Calif., where they spoke separately about faith and values. In June they attended the funeral of NBC newsman Tim Russert, sitting next to each other at the family's request.

[Associated Press; By JENNIFER LOVEN]

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