President Bush marked the second anniversary of the September 11 attacks with a moment of silence at the White House.
The president and Mrs. Bush began the day with an early morning service at St. John's Episcopal Church across the square from the White House.
In his sermon, Rector Luis Leon said the nation is called to remember the attacks because a remembering people are a grateful people. He said he felt sad for Americans who don't want to remember the pain of that day because, he said, an unexamined life is a wasted life.
Following the service, President Bush said it is a day of prayer for those who still grieve and hurt.
"We remember lives lost," the president said. "We remember the heroic deeds. We remember the compassion and the decency of our fellow citizens on that terrible day."
Holding hands, Mr. and Mrs. Bush stood with some 2,000 White House staff for a moment of silence on the South Lawn at the time of the first hit on the World Trade Center two years ago.
Later in the day, the president visits a local army hospital to meet with soldiers wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq.
