L.A. PAYS TRIBUTE TO U.S. DEAD NEW YORK, PENTAGON VICTIMS REMEMBERED IN CITY PRAYERS.

An American flag and a prayer: Those were the symbols of hope civic leaders invoked Sunday at a candlelight vigil to comfort a wounded country thrust into uncertainty by last week's terrorist acts.

Mayor Jim Hahn, Gov. Gray Davis and Cardinal Roger Mahony offered words of solace and comfort at the City Hall event in honor of the thousands killed in the attacks.

``We are in a time of grief and a time of healing,'' Hahn told the crowd of some 500 people gathered on Spring Street. ``Tonight, whether we are Jews or Christians, ... Muslims, Sikhs or Buddhists, we are all Americans.''

Hahn, who was in Washington, D.C., on city business during Tuesday's deadly attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, was not able to return to Los Angeles until late Thursday because of flight delays.

City Hall was decorated with dozens of flags, and emotional presentations were made by representatives of the Los Angeles Police Department and city Fire Department.

Fire Chief William Bamattre read a eulogy in honor of the New York firefighters killed in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, and he said those in his own department are in pain and in shock.

Members of the crowd held candles, flags and long-stem red roses handed out by city volunteers, and they sporadically cheered ``USA'' throughout the event.

At a tent nearby, the American Red Cross reported receiving more than 130 pints of donated blood Sunday. Ten City Council members participated in the blood drive.

At places of worship and community centers around the city and nation Sunday, Americans remembered the dead and prayed for the future. Vigils and prayer services have been daily events since Tuesday's attacks.

Cardinal Mahony called on Angelenos to pray for peace.

``The wounds of division need to be healed,'' he said. ``If our hearts and spirits are gentle, no outside threat or force can harm us.''

Davis said Tuesday's tragedy had failed to divide Americans.

``In the shadow of our darkest day,'' he said, ``we are stronger than ever.''

Present in the crowd were dozens of pilots and employees from American and United airlines, most wearing uniforms.

``We came here to honor those who died and try to pull together right now,'' said Kevin Fortney of Silver Lake, an American Airlines pilot. ``We're like a big family.''

Tension has run high in Los Angeles during the past week, with scattered reports the city may also be a target for terrorists in the United States with ties to Saudi national Osama bin Laden.

Los Angeles International and Burbank airports were reopened Friday after an unprecedented 48-hour closure to allow for intensive security checks by local and federal authorities.

Sunday's vigil included the ceremonial relighting of the Charles Lindbergh Beacon, a powerful aircraft guidance light atop City Hall that was restored by the city in 1992.

The light, a gift from the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, shone from City Hall from its opening in 1928 until World War II.

Relighting the beacon was originally scheduled for the official reopening of City Hall next week at a ceremony after a four-year seismic retrofitting project.

But next week's ceremony was indefinitely postponed after the East Coast tragedy.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) The Charles Lindbergh Beacon, a powerful aircraft guidance light, shines again atop Los Angeles City Hall after relighting Sunday at a ceremony in honor of terrorist victims in New York City and near Washington, D.C.

(2) Los Angeles Fire Chief William Bamattre eulogizes New York firefighters Sunday.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer