Holy ground.

Byline: The Register-Guard

In their hearts, many Americans have maintained a silent vigil as the recovery effort continued at ground zero, where the World Trade Center stood until Sept. 11.

At 8:17 p.m. Tuesday, the last recognizable piece of the twin towers, a 58-ton steel column, was hoisted onto a truck, covered with a shroud and an American flag and stored for this morning's official ceremony marking the end of the recovery effort.

The column's removal was witnessed by the ironworkers, laborers, engineers, Teamsters, police officers and firefighters who did the hard, grim and unthinkable work of removing wreckage and human remains from the site.

Eight months have passed since hijacked jets plowed into the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, turning them into a mountain of 1.8 million tons of rubble. The job of removing that wreckage took a physical, emotional and spiritual toll on the men and women who participated in the round-the-clock recovery operation.

One can only imagine their grief, pain and sacred resolve as they worked their way through the jagged, smoldering ruins. Through their unceasing efforts, the remains of more than 1,000 of the nearly 3,000 people who were killed in the attack have been removed and identified. While the identification work continues, it's clear that the remains of the majority of those who died in the towers will never be accounted for. The search has come to an end.

Despite extraordinary difficulties and dangerous conditions, the job was done with remarkable speed and efficiency. The project was completed under budget three months ahead of schedule without a serious injury to even a single worker.

Now these workers will move on to other jobs, carrying with them heart-wrenching memories that defy description. Of melted eyeglasses and abandoned handbags and cell phones. Of the remains of the humans to whom these items once belonged.

For these workers, for the families of the victims, for New Yorkers and for all Americans, the end of the recovery effort marks a turning point. But to what - and to where - remains to be seen.

The nation remains in a state of war against an elusive enemy who appears intent on more acts of heartless fury. It appears likely, perhaps inevitable, that more Americans will die at the hands of a foe whose face remains maddeningly elusive. We can only hope and pray that this nation never again awakens to a morning as haunting - and deadly - as the morning of Sept. 11.

Before the final steel column was removed at ground zero, a 57-year-old ironworker named Joe Bradley offered some parting advice to his co-workers that was later reported in The New York Times. "Don't ever forget these days, boys," Bradley said. "We came in as individuals, and we'll walk out together."

Those are words that all Americans should remember.