70,000 MOURNERS PAY TRIBUTE; MEMORIAL RECALLS `PRECIOUS ONES'.

Byline: James Brooke The New York Times

Jonathan Cohen, a slender 17-year-old lost in an oversize sweat shirt, stood Sunday before a sea of silent faces, closed his eyes, and sang in a clear tenor, ``Do you still hear raging guns, ending dreams of precious ones?''

In this community torn by violence, many students who heard Jonathan at the memorial service for the victims of the Columbine High School shootings knew that he wrote the words from the heart.

Last Tuesday, Jonathan, a junior, was trapped in the school choir room when the shooting started. His older brother, Stephen, who accompanied him Sunday on the guitar, had been in the cafeteria.

``Columbine, rose blood red, heartbreak overflows my head,'' Jonathan sang to the still audience. ``Columbine, friend of mine, peace will come to you in time.''

As clouds and a cold rain shrouded the nearby Rocky Mountains, the outdoor memorial service drew 70,000 - nearly double the population of the suburban neighborhood served by the high school.

``To the families of all those who died here, I say, you are not alone,'' Vice President Al Gore said from a makeshift stage erected in a movie theater parking lot. ``May you feel the embrace of literally hundreds of millions who weep with you.''

On a Sunday when religious leaders across the nation tried to find meaning in a massacre that left 15 people dead, including the two gunmen, many speakers at the service here cited the example of Cassie Bernall, a 17-year-old junior. Asked by one of the gunmen if she believed in God, she answered yes and was shot to death.

The Rev. Franklin Graham, citing her final words, compared her death to the suffering he had seen among Kosovo refugees on a recent visit to Macedonia.

``The forces of hatred and violence must not be allowed to gain,'' exclaimed the son of the Rev. Billy Graham.

Although bagpipes played, a religious singer played the trumpet and four F-16s scraped overhead in a missing-man formation, the most remarkable aspect of the huge gathering was the silence. With ribbons on their lapels in the school colors, blue and white, mourners wiped tears and bowed heads, holding hands or simply embracing.

``I don't know if it really puts any peace to it, because it's still so fresh,'' said Taylor Brown, a 19-year-old who graduated from Columbine last year. ``I'm still in shock.''

Many clutched flowers, lilies or purple and white sprays, some of 25,000 flowers donated by Colorado and California flower growers. When the Cohen brothers opened the service with a simple ``Hi,'' mourners spontaneously released blue and white balloons they had been holding. One hour into the service, when a light rain began to fall, people quietly popped open umbrellas.

At the end, as Gov. Bill Owens read the roll call of victims, he released a white dove into the air for each of the victims. For a few moments, the doves wheeled overhead, then flew away. Columbine, Colorado's state flower, derives its name from a Latin word meaning ``like a dove.''

Owens read only 13 names, omitting those of the two dead gunmen, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.

``Yes, they took far too many precious lives,'' the governor told the somber crowd. ``But they failed in their goal to kill hundreds more and to burn the school to the ground. Behind you stands the charred remains of Columbine High School. This community will not be beaten.''

On Saturday night at the park across from the school that has been filled with makeshift memorials, a man brought a sign reading, ``We miss you Eric and Dylan.'' Someone seized the sign from him and burned it on the spot.

``The young killers of Columbine High School do not stand for the spirit of America,'' Gore said Sunday in a rare reference to the gunmen. ``America is a good and decent place, and our goodness is a light to all the nations of the world.''

Several political leaders, including retired Gen. Colin Powell and most of Colorado's congressional delegation, were on the stage but did not speak. Those politicians who spoke urged Americans to spend more time with their children and to purge popular culture of violence.

``No more raising of children who do not value human life,'' appealed Owens, a Republican. ``No more children forced to grow up in a culture of death and destruction.''

Gore, a Democrat, sounded a similar note, urging as he gesticulated with his right forefinger, ``All of us must change our lives to honor these children.

``If you are a parent, they need your attention, if you are a grandparent, they need your time,'' he said. ``We must teach them right from wrong. We must teach them about violence in popular culture.''

A few hours after the memorial service, funerals were held for two slain students, Kelly Fleming and Daniel Mauser. The funerals were at the St. Francis Cabrini Roman Catholic Church, across the street from the house of Eric Harris.

Of the 23 wounded in the high school attack, 11 remained hospitalized Sunday. Of the injured, one was in critical condition, six in serious condition and four in fair condition.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

PHOTO (1 -- color) Four teens huddle together for comfort Sunday at the memorial service to honor victims of the attack at Columbine High School.

Patrick Davis/Denver Rocky Mountain News 

(2) Shooting victim Austin Eubanks hugs his girlfriend during the service that drew 70,000 people.

Laura Rauch/Associated Press