Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain put aside campaign rivalries Thursday to honor of Sept. 11 victims on the seventh anniversary of the attacks.

Both presidential hopefuls planned to pay their respects Thursday at the Ground Zero site where the World Trade Center twin towers once stood. The two also plan to appear separately at a presidential forum on civic engagement and service Thursday evening at Columbia University in Manhattan.

Even the candidates’ Web sites, which usually feature calls for donations and the latest campaign ads, were dedicated to remembering the Sept. 11 tragedies.

“On 9/11 Americans across our great country came together to stand with the families of the victims, to donate blood, to give charity, and to say a prayer for our country,” a statement from Obama, both e-mailed to supporters and featured on the candidate’s home page, read. “Let us renew that spirit of service and that sense of common purpose.”

McCain’s home page featured a call to service for all that took viewers to a donation site where they could pledge money or volunteer work to charity organizations such as the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity or Save the Children.

The Arizona Senator spoke Thursday in Shanksville, Pa., at the site where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed on Sept. 11, 2002, killing all crew and passengers aboard.

“I have witnessed great courage and sacrifice for America’s sake, but none greater than the sacrifice of those good people who grasped the gravity of the moment, understood the threat, and decided to fight back at the cost of their lives,” McCain said.