NEW YORK, 12 September 2003 — Two years after the profound horror and grief of Sept. 11, the small voices of children rang out at Ground Zero, joining in song and reading the names of the 2,792 people who died there.

More than 200 children, each of whom lost a relative in the most devastating terrorist assault in US history, approached the microphone in pairs and began reading the names.

Many of the children included a personal message. Christina Marie Aceto, 12, said: “I love you, Daddy. I miss you a lot. Richard Anthony Aceto.”

The ceremony opened with two bagpipers and a drummer marching onto the site of the World Trade Center, bearing an American flag that once flew over its ruins. A children’s choir sang The Star-Spangled Banner.

“We come here to honor those that we lost, and to remember this day with sorrow,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Minutes later, the anniversary ceremony at Ground Zero paused for a moment of silence — the first of four commemorating the times when each jetliner crashed into a tower and when each skyscraper collapsed.

Across the nation, bells tolled, firefighters stood at attention, and in many places, moments with no words at all were held for the second anniversary of the terrorist assault that killed more than 3,000 people.

In lower Manhattan, at the site where the World Trade Center once stood, 200 children whose relatives were among the 2,792 began the solemn, careful task of reading the names of the victims in a morning ceremony.

“I know I’m very proud of my children,” said Lynn Morris, whose husband, Seth Allan Morris, died Sept. 11, 2001, and whose two children, 11-year-old Madilynn and 9-year-old Kyle, were reading names. “It’s amazing the strength that they have developed over the years.”

Families began arriving well before the ceremony, many wearing ribbons of white or black, symbolizing mourning, or yellow, for hope. They also carried flowers — daisies, petunias and roses to leave at the site during the ceremony.

The footprint of the trade center’s north tower was outlined by a 4-foot fence draped with banners bearing drawings and messages painted by children of the victims.

One of them was a simple red heart, outlined in black, with the inscription: “To my Dad, Steve Chucknick. Your in my heart forever. Love always, your son Steven.”

A silent vigil began Wednesday night in New York at St. Paul’s Chapel, once in the shadow of the trade center.

“There’s no getting over it; there’s just getting through it,” said the Rev. Julie Taylor, 33.

At sunrise yesterday, about 200 people sat quietly at an ecumenical service at a small park not far from Ground Zero that included a violinist, readings of poems and songs by a children’s choir.

“I was hoping to get a couple minutes to face up to all the emotions of the day and to continue the process of trying to adjust,” said Nathaniel Hupert, a 37-year-old public health researcher.”

Elsewhere in the nation, reminders of life, death and peace were set to commemorate the day.

In Toledo, Ohio, the mayor’s wife people began reading the names of the victims, expected to take a series of people several hours. Afterward, white doves were to be released. In New Hampshire, bells pealed to remember the dead. At Boston’s Logan International Airport, where two of the hijacked planes took off, there was a moment of silence to remember the victims.

Twisted steel taken from the ruins and shipped to other states for memorials was to be at the center of ceremonies from North Dakota to Florida to a New Mexico church that uses two trade center beams as part of its bell tower.

The Ground Zero commemoration, similar to last year’s, featured readings by Bloomberg and other dignitaries.

Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, speaking before the ceremony, said he still wakes up at night thinking about that day.

“It’s something that’s with you. It’s going to be with you for the rest of your life,” he told ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

At sunset, two light beams pointing skyward were to be switched on, evoking the image of the twin towers in a reprise of a popular month-long memorial unveiled in March 2002.

But the centerpiece of the Ground Zero remembrance was the children. Some of the 200 reading names spent the weeks leading to the anniversary practicing the pronunciations on their section of the list.

Lynn Morris looked up articles so that Madilynn and Kyle could match faces to the names. Madilynn was reading 14 names, finishing with that of her father, who was 35 and worked at Cantor Fitzgerald in the trade center.

“I thought it would be a good way to honor my dad,” Madilynn said, “and to honor the other people.”