- George Bush laid a wreath at a special ceremony at the Pentagon this morning
- Flew to Pennsylvania to join Bill Clinton in remembrance of the victims of Flight 93
- Will join President Obama tomorrow in New York
*MKILETEWA HAPA NA FLORA LYIMO DESIGNER*
Former President George W. Bush paid tribute to the victims of Flight 93 today, calling their actions one of the most courageous acts in U.S. history.
President Bush was joined by former president Bill Clinton as the pair paid silent tribute to the victims of September 11 at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania the day before the official anniversary of the terror attacks.
Mr Bush said the defiance of passengers aboard the doomed plane were a shining example of democracy in action.
More than 4,000 people, including relatives of those killed when the plane crashed into a rural Pennsylvania field, attended the service.
Bow: Former U.S. presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton and former first lady Laura Bush bow their heads during the remembrance ceremony in Pennsylvania;
Floral tributes: Mementos are left at a 9/11 memorial bench at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on September 10, 2011
Silence: Former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush, along with former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his wife Joyce Rumsfeld;
Bush was joined by his wife Laura, as he placed a wreath of white flowers by the 9/11 memorial stone embedded in the wall outside Corridor 4 which is close to where hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the building, killing 184 people.
Also at Saturday's brief ceremony were Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, former Pentagon chief Donald H. Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen.
The former President then travelled to Shanksville in Pennsylvania where he joined Bill Clinton for the dedication of a United Flight 93 memorial.
A long white stone wall bearing the names of those who struggled with al-Qaeda terrorists on the fourth airliner to be hijacked on September 11, 2001, was unveiled on the rural Pennsylvania field where the Boeing 757 crashed.
Current vice president Joe Biden joined the former presidents, families of the victims and several hundred others -- many in patriotic T-shirts or holding US flags -- under a slate grey sky.
During the ceremony, the names of the 40 victims were read out, one by one, accompanied by chimes.
On Sunday, President Barack Obama is to join a two-hour commemorative service at the spot where Flight 93 went down -- lifting the profile of a sometimes overlooked episode of the catastrophic 9/11 attacks.
The Flight 93 National Memorial currently includes an elongated walkway that sweeps past a circular field marked by a wreath-bedecked 17-ton boulder -- the exact point where the Boeing 757 slammed at full speed into the ground.
Tribute: Jill Biden and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden touch the Flight 93 National Memorial name of Deborah Jacobs, as former U.S. president Bill Clinton watches;
Symbolic: Former President George W. Bush speaks during the dedication of phase 1 of the permanent Flight 93 National Memorial near the crash site of Flight 93 in Shanksville;
Greet: Former President George W. Bush shakes hands with Vice President Joe Biden after speaking during the Flight 93 National Memorial ceremony;
Tears: Former First lady Laura Bush, and Jill Biden, wipe tears away at the ceremony in Shanksville;
The adjoining wall bearing the names of the dead retraces the direction in which Flight 93 came down. Planted by the entry to the walkway are three young elm trees, representing the three 9/11 sites.
Notable upon the stage were the flags of Germany, Japan and New Zealand -- in remembrance of wine merchant Christian Adams, 37, student Toshiya Kuge, 20, and lawyer Alan Anthony Beaven, 48, the non-native-born Americans on the flight.
A U.S. Navy brass quintet in crisp white uniforms played a prelude. US park rangers and FBI agents raised the national flag. Award-winning bagpiper Bruce Liberati performed, as did Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan.
In the aftermath of 9/11, local volunteers took on the task of greeting visitors and maintaining a makeshift memorial along the chain-link fence that overlooks what some call 'America's first battlefield against terrorism'.
Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama visited Arlington Cemetery in Washington today ahead of their appearance in New York tomorrow for the September 11 anniversary ceremonies.
Sombre: U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama walk together during a visit to Arlington National Cemetery in Washington today;
Pentagon: Donald Rumsfeld and his wife Joyce look on as current Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, left, pauses for a moment of silence after a wreath-laying;
Group: Gordon Felt, front left, President of Families of Flight 93 whose brother Edward was a passenger on Flight 93, walks with the former presidents and speaker of the house;
On Friday, family members of those who died on Flight 93 visited the site, read the guestbook and viewed the many mementos left by people from all over the world who have come to pay their respects.
Relatives shed some tears, but they also celebrated the spirit of the guestbook - a rare feeling that people from vastly different walks of life had come together.
'I don't focus on what happened. You can't change that,' said Lorne Lyles, whose wife, CeeCee Ross Lyles, had been working as a United Airlines flight attendant for only nine months on that September morning in 2001.
'Coming here is more of a celebratory thing. She's been memorialised,' Mr Lyles said. 'Just to see the outpouring from all over the world is touching. You really do have some caring people in the world.'
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar spoke at the site on Friday. He noted that for all the progress on the memorial, there's still work to be done.
When it is finished, it will include a Tower of Voices with 40 wind chimes.
Public and private donors have contributed $52 million, but $10 million more is needed to build a true visitors centre and to finish landscaping, Mr Salazar said.
'We will not be able to complete the site' without additional funding', he said.
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