The events that took place 10 years ago on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, ignited unity among Americans as the country turned its eyes and its hearts toward the Twin Towers, The Pentagon, and the crash site of Flight 93.Upon reflection, every American will remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news that their country was under attack. That overwhelming concern for family members and fellow countrymen that each American felt as the citizens of this nation became one united front against terrorism should never be forgotten.
James Kramer, the Pueblo, Colo., coroner and responder to the clean-up efforts in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, said in a Pueblo Chieftain interview, “Everyone gave something on 9/11, but there were about 3,000 that gave all.”
Every passing year brings a day that causes Americans to gather in remembrance for the lives lost that day. On this 10th anniversary of the attacks, we together reach a milestone on our promise to never forget.
Following each year’s remembrance events that take place in communities across the nation, American citizens are looking to the future as the final plans are in place to allow for the opening of the 9/11 memorial and museum to occur exactly 10 years after the attacks. The opening of both the 9/11 memorial and the museum that are built on Ground Zero in New York City are scheduled to open on the morning of Sept. 11, 2011, as a grand commemoration of the events.
As described on the 9/11 memorial website, www.national911memorial.org, the eight-acre memorial plaza covers the entire Ground Zero area and includes a memorial, a museum, and nearly 400 swamp white oak trees to create one of the greenest, most sustainable plazas ever built.
The trees provide separation from the hectic city atmosphere to create a reflective and serene environment. The website emphasizes the most important design aspect of the swamp white oaks being their color, which ranges from pink to amber to golden brown. “The trees will never be identical, neither to each other nor from year to year, a clear reminder that they are living individuals.”
Two massive pools featuring the largest manmade waterfalls in the country are placed in the footsteps of the former World Trade Center to serve as the memorial structure. The memorial will bear the inscriptions of 3,000 names to honor and remember those who lost their lives on that day 10 years ago in NYC, in Pennsylvania, in the Pentagon, and the February 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.
Victims’ names will be inscribed around the heart of the pools allowing visitors to look through the inscription into the water by day. By night, the light will shine through each letter of the inscriptions to illuminate the cascading waterfalls of the memorial reflecting the structure of the buildings.
The memorial museum will encapsulate memorabilia collections, tributes, historic exhibits and witness testimony to honor victims and to display the consequences of terrorism on individual lives, communities and nations. Anyone can become a part of history by donating financial support to the preservation of the memorial or by submitting personal accounts and memorabilia. The museum accepts materials such as photographs, recordings, personal affects and testimonies for the permanent collections.
The museum symbolizes human virtue prevailing over human depravity. As a looking glass into the past, this museum will serve as a reminder to future generations for years to come. The distinctive learning environment produced by this museum solidifies the promise made by the American people in the aftermath of 9/11 to commemorate the events.
As we arrive at a decade of being in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, our country is reflecting on an action of human evil, and the human compassion that responded. The rise in unity and compassion that swarmed through every American community in the immediate aftermath of the attacks is still felt as citizens take action to commemorate history. The public in every community stretching across the nation has personal connections to 9/11. Involvement in 9/11 commemorative community events and supporting the memorial plaza that aims to educate and forever reflect on the 9/11 terrorist attacks ensures that we will never forget.
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