The 9/11
museum at ground zero in New York opened to victims' families, first responders and
recovery workers today, as President Obama recalled the heroism
and sacrifices made by those who died in the attacks more than 12 years ago
Today, as we dedicated the
National September 11 Memorial Museum, we took a major step in fulfilling a
solemn commitment to ensure that an important part of American history is never
forgotten.
The dedication began with a
ceremony in the Museum's Foundation Hall with The President of the United
States and other elected officials joining in. The first visitors to the museum
were hundreds of 9/11 family members, first responders, recovery workers,
survivors, and others whose experiences are the very foundation of this museum.
President Obama opened the
dedication.
President
Barack Obama praised the new Sept. 11 museum today as "a sacred place of
healing and of hope" that captures both the story and the spirit of
heroism and helpfulness that followed the attacks.
"It's
an honor to join in your memories, to recall and to reflect, but above all to
reaffirm the true spirit of 9/11 — love, compassion, sacrifice — and to
enshrine it forever in the heart of our nation," he told an audience of
victims' relatives, survivors, rescuers and recovery workers at the ground zero
museum's dedication ceremony.
"Like
the great wall and bedrock that embrace us today, nothing can ever break us.
Nothing can change who we are as Americans."
Obama
listens to victims’ stories.
After
viewing the exhibits, including a mangled fire truck and a memorial wall with
photos of victims, the president touched on some of the many stories of courage
amid the chaos: the passengers who stormed a hijacked plane's cockpit over a
Pennsylvania field and first responders who rushed into the burning twin
towers. He also honored military members "who have served with honor in
more than a decade of war."
Especially
moving was the story of Welles Crowther, a 24-year-old World Trade Center worker
and former volunteer firefighter who became known as "the man in the red
bandanna" after he led other workers to safety from the trade center's
stricken south tower. He died in the tower's collapse.
One of his
red bandannas is showcased in the museum, and Crowther's mother, Alison, told
the audience she hoped it would remind visitors "how people helped each
other that day, and that they will be inspired to do the same in ways both big
and small. This is the true legacy of Sept. 11."
Dignitaries
walked the hallowed hall with reverence.
Before the
ceremony, Obama walked quietly through an expansive hall with former New York
City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. First lady Michelle Obama, former President Bill
Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton following behind
them.
The museum,
which commemorates the 2001 terrorist attack, as well as the 1993 World Trade
Center bombing, opens to the public on May 21, 2014. The museum
at ground zero, in what was the World Trade Center basement, leads people on an
unsettling journey through the terrorist attacks, with forays into their lead
up and legacy.
Scenes of horror and heroics.
At the base level — 70 feet below ground , there are scenes of horror,
including videos of the skyscrapers collapsing and people falling from them --
one of several areas of the museum that are tucked away in alcoves, behind
posted warnings. The museum also has what it calls "early exits,"
where visitors can leave if they get overwhelmed.
There are also symbols of heroism, like the bandanna, damaged fire trucks
and the wristwatch of one of the airline passengers who confronted the
hijackers, fragments of planes, a set of keys to the trade center, a teddy bear
left at the impromptu memorials that arose after the attacks, the dust-covered
shoes of those who fled the skyscrapers' collapse, emergency radio
transmissions and office workers calling loved ones, even a recording of an
astronaut solemnly describing the smoke plume from the International Space
Station.
Sprinkled in are factoids about the 19 hijackers, including photos of them on
an inconspicuous panel.
No act of
terror can match the strength of U.S.
The museum
and the memorial plaza above, which opened in 2011, were built for $700 million
in donations and tax dollars. Michael Bloomberg, the former Mayor stepped
in to save both projects when they were foundering several years ago, said this:
“For 3,000 families, it is a place to grieve. But for the rest of the city,
state, country and the world… this is the way to educate the next generation
that freedom isn’t free.”
On the wall behind which the unidentified human remains will be hidden, is
a quote from Virgil which sums it all up:
“No day
shall erase you from the memory of time.”
The 9/11 Museum dedication ceremony poignantly concluded with The New York
Philharmonic playing Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man."
God bless these victims and volunteers and God bless America.
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