The 9/11 Memorial & Museum launched a new campaign Wednesday for their “Never Forget Fund” to educate young people about what happened on Sept. 11, and highlight the children of 9/11 heroes, who are now living a legacy of service.
“The public service announcement we released today will help build awareness of the approaching anniversary, as well as the programs and mission of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum,” Josh Cherwin, the chief advancement and communications officer for the museum, said
What You Need To Know
The 9/11 Memorial & Museum has created a PSA for their “Never Forget Fund” to educate young people about what happened on Sept. 11, 2001
Around 100 million Americans have no lived memory of the attacks
The 25th anniversary of the attacks will be marked this year
Stetson Edwards brought his daughters from Louisiana to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum to teach them the significance of that day.
“It was the most devastating day of our lives growing up, and you know, we just got through telling the story when we were in the memorial just a while ago,” Edwards said. “I told them how I woke up, in school, the bell rang, and I just remember getting the news of the towers falling.”
Edwards’ daughters are some of the 100 million Americans alive today, one-third of the U.S. population, who have no lived memory of Sept. 11, 2001, because they weren’t born yet.
“It’s very eye-opening, because it’s not just you that lives in this world, and a lot of people lost their lives to get what we have,” Olivia Edwards said.
The museum’s anniversary digital learning experience helps start the tough conversation with young students and teachers.
“We hear it all the time, and what we have come to understand is that we can help you have that conversation,” Cherwin said.
Faith Tieh-Flowers is from Philadelphia, but now lives in Germany. She recently visited the memorial with her family, including her 2-year-old son.
“Honestly, I haven’t really thought that far on how to teach him about it,” Tieh-Flowers said. “But I think it would come in to like, acceptance and tolerance of people, understanding where everyone comes from, but also showing like, the togetherness of Americans during that day.”
Edwards hopes to share that same message of unity with his daughters too.
“The importance of this is how we came together,” he said. “What they’ve delivered inside this memorial is not, it is what happened, and how devastating what the people did to us, but it’s really about how Americans, how we come together when something bad happens.”
To watch the full PSA for the 9/11 Memorial & Museum “Never Forget Fund,” you can head to the campaign’s website.