Remembering 9/11

Those who witnessed the events of Sept. 11 will never forget them, even if they wish to. How can we commemorate one of the darkest days in American history? TIME asked some visionaries and populists how to mark a day like no other

STEVEN SPIELBERG, film director Every Sept. 11, at 8:45 a.m, the nation should pause for as many seconds as the number of souls who lost their lives--perhaps 5,000 seconds of silence, contemplation and prayer. We should erect memorials from some of the fragmented remains of masonry and steel. Schools should declare it World Tolerance Education Day.

RALPH APPELBAUM, exhibition designer New York has always been a place filled with bold dreams, and architecture was meant to capture that spirit. On one hand, I imagine them building the World Trade Center as it was, with no floors, almost like a cathedral, but in the spirit of American resilience. I want to see it rebuilt exactly as it was and as fast as it was originally.

RUSH LIMBAUGH, radio commentator We should resolve to make Sept. 11 each year as robust a day as we can. It should feature Americans behaving in their unique, extraordinary ways. Those whose lives were lost should be remembered as they died: in busy activity, never dreaming that that day would be their last on Earth. We will not need to shut down to remember.