The Associated Press

ST.

Monday, September 17, 2001

ST. PAUL – By the tens of thousands, people came.

Past a sentry of fire trucks whose ladders were extended in salute to heroes. Past the National Guard Armory, where a 20-foot-high American flag hung inside the glass entrance. Past all the monuments to the last century’s wars.

Powering wheelchairs or marching in uniformed step or pushing strollers built for two. They came.

More than 35,000 gathered on the grounds of the Capitol under a dreary, sometimes drizzling sky Sunday for a two-hour ceremony to mark the memories of those killed in terrorist attacks Tuesday.

”Today we have to face it,” former Vice President Walter Mondale told the somber crowd. ”There is a grimness to this. Our world has changed and we know it. Americans are today joined as one.”

Many in the crowd wore uniforms, representing organizations ranging from the Salvation Army to the U.S. Army. Some had jackets that barely buttoned anymore. Other came in traditional Hmong dress or American Indian ceremonial garb.

Few seemed concerned with the formal rules of flag etiquette. American flags adorned bandanas, t-shirts, shawls, sweaters.

Terri Scheele of Lino Lakes wore a hat with a foam flag jutting out of both sides. She passed out flag stickers to the crowd. ”I want our freedom and our safety back,” she said, explaining what brought her.

Minutes before the event began, Thomas Schueller pushed a cart to the front of the Capitol and from it released 30 white doves. They circled the grounds several times before flying away. He said they were headed to his farm in Prior Lake.

For just a moment, police scowled at him. His doves were not an official part of the ceremony. He didn’t care. ”I just wanted a way for people to be quiet and reflect on those horrific events,” he explained.

Charles Koenig watched the event for a time from a median strip on Constitution Avenue, his American Legion hat shielding him from the drizzle. Koenig, a U.S. Army infantry veteran from the Korean conflict, drove from Rochester for the event.

”I think young people are going to have to defend our freedom like I did,” he said. ”I’ve been worried about patriotism slipping for some time, but now it’s time to step up to the plate and take care of business.”

Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders asked the crowd for tolerance.

”We Muslims join with all Americans in calling for the swift apprehension and punishment for the perpetrators,” said Hamdy El-Sawaf, executive director of the Islamic Center of Minnesota. ”They must be brought to justice.”

El-Sawaf also asked the crowd to understand that Islam does not condone violence. ”Islam, our religion, prohibits aggression against innocent civilians.”

The program began with the National Anthem and a laying of wreaths honoring firefighters, members of the armed services, police and emergency medical workers.

The Capitol itself shook as four planes from the 148th Fighter Wing of the Minnesota Air National Guard screeched across the sky in a missing man formation.

Among the speakers was Eric Aamoth, whose brother Gordon Aamoth Jr. was in the World Trade Center during the attack. He is missing.

”Whether he survived or not, my brother will always be alive to me. He was my hero as a child and my friend as an adult,” Eric Aamoth said.

Politicians also spoke.

Sen. Paul Wellstone represented the state’s congressional delegation. Fellow Democratic Sen. Mark Dayton did not attend, choosing instead to speak at an Islamic school in Fridley that was a target of vandalism Wednesday.

”We must not become the evil which we witnessed this past week and which we so rightfully condemn,” Dayton said, explaining his choice.

Gov. Jesse Ventura was the last to speak. He expressed faith in the military and the state’s National Guard and compared the state to a large family that must come together in a time of trouble.

Said Ventura: ”No matter what forces of evil bring, we will not break down.”