Bostonians remember

Year after marathon blasts, city resolute

Survivors, first responders and others gather Tuesday as a flag is raised at the finish line of last year’s Boston Marathon a year after the bombings that left three people dead and more than 260 injured.
Survivors, first responders and others gather Tuesday as a flag is raised at the finish line of last year’s Boston Marathon a year after the bombings that left three people dead and more than 260 injured.

BOSTON - Survivors, first responders and relatives of those killed gathered Tuesday to mark the one-year anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings.

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AP/The Boston Globe

Family members of Boston Marathon bombing victims Martin Richard, Kyrstle Campbell and Lu Lingzi walk to a wreath-laying ceremony Tuesday with Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (left) and Boston Mayor Martin Walsh (right).

“This day will always be hard, but this place will always be strong,” former Mayor Thomas Menino told an invitation-only audience of about 2,500 people at the Hynes Convention Center, not far from the finish line where three people died and more than 260 others were injured a year ago.

Vice President Joe Biden, who attended the ceremony, said the courage shown by survivors and those who lost loved ones is an inspiration for other Americans dealing with loss and tragedy.

“You have become the face of America’s resolve,” he said.

Biden also praised the 36,000 runners who plan to run in this year’s Boston Marathon, which is Monday, saying they will send a message to terrorists.

“America will never, ever, ever stand down,” he said, to loud applause. He added, “We own the finish line.”

Current Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, who will oversee Monday’s race, pledged that it will be “a living, breathing celebration of our resilience.”

Tuesday was not without some unwelcome reminders of last year: Police bomb squads detonated a suspicious device found near a state Department of Transportation regional office, although the authorities said they do not yet know whether the device was an explosive.

Later Tuesday, police said a man taken into custody near the Boston Marathon finish line had a rice cooker in his backpack and was being charged with possession of a hoax device.

Police Superintendent Randall Halstead said the man was stopped Tuesday by an officer who saw him acting suspiciously and then drop a backpack.

Halstead said the man also faces charges of disturbing the peace and disorderly conduct.

The backpack was blown up by the city’s bomb squad as a precaution, as was a second, unattended backpack found nearby. Halstead wouldn’t say what was in the second backpack on who owned it. He said police were investigating.

Earlier Tuesday in Washington, President Barack Obama observed the anniversary with a private moment of silence at the White House.

“Today, we recognize the incredible courage and leadership of so many Bostonians in the wake of unspeakable tragedy,” Obama said in a statement. “And we offer our deepest gratitude to the courageous firefighters, police officers, medical professionals, runners and spectators who, in an instant, displayed the spirit Boston was built on - perseverance, freedom and love.”

Obama said this year’s race will “show the world the meaning of Boston Strong as a city chooses to run again.”

Because so many people want to show their solidarity with Boston, 1 million spectators are expected at the marathon, twice the usual number. It has drawn a capacity 35,660 runners, about 9,000 more than last year, making it the second-largest contingent in the race’s history, surpassed only by the 1996 centennial run.

More than 100 cameras have been installed along the Boston portion of the 26.2-mile race, with 50 observation points set up near the finish line to monitor the crowd, according to a safety plan released by Walsh’s office. Vehicle traffic will be prohibited and parking restricted on many city streets in the days leading to the marathon and on race day.

Authorities say two ethnic Chechen brothers who lived in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan and the Dagestan region of Russia planned and orchestrated the twin bombings near the marathon finish line on April 15, 2013.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died after a shootout with police days after the bombings. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, has pleaded innocent to federal charges and is awaiting a trial in which he faces a possible death sentence. Prosecutors say the brothers also killed Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer Sean Collier days after the bombings in an attempt to steal his gun.

Prosecutors have said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev left a hand scrawled confession condemning U.S. actions in Muslim countries on the inside wall of a boat in which he was found hiding after the police shootout that killed Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

At Tuesday’s tribute, several survivors of the bombing alluded to their injuries but focused on the strength they’ve drawn from fellow survivors, first responders, doctors, nurses and strangers who have offered them support.

“We should never have met this way, but we are so grateful for each other,” said Patrick Downes, a newlywed who was injured along with his wife. Each lost a left leg below the knee in the bombings.

Downes described “Boston Strong,” the slogan coined after the attack, as a movement that symbolizes the city’s determination to recover. He called the people who died “our guardian angels.”

“We will carry them in our hearts,” he said.

Downes said the city on Monday will “show the world what Boston represents.” He added, “For our guardian angels, let them hear us roar.”

Adrianne Haslet-Davis, a ballroom dancer who lost her left leg below the knee and has recently returned to performing on a prosthetic leg, said she has learned over the past year that no milestone is too small to celebrate, including walking into a nonhandicapped restroom stall for the first time and “doing a happy dance.

“Make every single second count,” said Haslet-Davis. “Because believe me, they do.”

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick spoke of how the attack has drawn people closer.

“There are no strangers here,” he repeated throughout his speech.

“We are in the end, one community” that “turns to each other in times of need,” Patrick said.

Carlos Arredondo, the cowboy-hat-wearing spectator who was hailed as a hero for helping the wounded after the bombings, said he went to the tribute ceremony to support survivors and their families.

“You can see how the whole community gathered together to support them and remember,” Arredondo said.

After passing through security, passers-by packed into barricaded areas to watch a flag-raising ceremony after the tribute, undeterred by rain.

The bells across the city tolled at 2:49 p.m., the time of the first explosion, and a flag was raised by transit agency police officer Richard Donohue, who was badly injured during a shootout with the bombing suspects.

Aleksander Jonca wore a blue jacket from last year’s race, which he was unable to finish because of the bombings. He’s running again this year, with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

“All of us have a different path to heal, and I think today is a good way to do that together and honor the survivors,” Jonca said.

Earlier in the day, a wreath-laying ceremony on Boylston Street drew the families of the three people killed in the blasts - Martin Richard, Krystle Campbell and Lu Lingzi - and of the MIT officer shot down after the race.

A wreath was placed at the site of each bomb blast - one just steps from the finish line in front of the Boston Public Library, and the other about a block away near the Forum restaurant.

There was to be a candlelight vigil, led by Walsh, later Tuesday in Dorchester and a service at the Old South Church, one of Boston’s most historic buildings, which is near the finish line.

The service was to include a reference to the Bible’s Book of Nehemiah, which relates to the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.

“Nehemiah teaches us that though grief and tragedy will strike and strike mightily, it is possible - indeed imperative - to rebuild community life,” according to prepared remarks to be delivered by Boston’s Imam Suhaib Webb. “‘Boston Strong’ has meant everything from amputees dancing on prosthetic limbs, to millions of dollars raised to help the victims, to an interfaith community which refused to be pulled apart.”

Old South has served marathon runners for decades. It offers an annual blessing of the athletes and tolls the Great Bell for incoming runners. Last week, it rehung the tattered blue and gold 2013 banners that billowed above the finish line last year.

Information for this article was contributed by Denise Lavoie and Philip Marcelo of The Associated Press; by Katharine Q. Seelye of The New York Times; and by Tom Moroney, Prashant Gopal, Christopher Condon, Jack Fairweather and Erik Larson of Bloomberg News.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 04/16/2014

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