Remembering 9/11 at the the National September 11 Memorial & Museum

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It’s been almost 16 years since that horrific Tuesday morning when the world watched New York’s skyline change forever. Sixteen years since fundamental changes happened.  Sixteen years since the first major attack on US soil since Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor in WWII. Sixteen years since the start of two different wars plus numerous other small armed conflicts.  Sixteen years since my complete unawareness of this world politics ended.  A few months ago, I made the long trip to New York City.  I wanted to pay my respects and visit the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

“What separates us from the animals, what separates us from the chaos, is our ability to mourn people we’ve never met.” —David LevithanLove is the Higher Law

September 11, 2001, started like any other day.  I got up and went to school.  I was in 5th grade at the time.  We knew something was up pretty early in the day.  Recess had been canceled yet it wasn’t raining outside.  There were police at the school and suddenly lots of kids were being picked up from school.  Around lunch, a rumor started spreading that we had been attacked by the Japanese again.  We were talking about WWII history in class and one of the other 5th graders had overheard something about planes and building in the office.  Conclusions were drawn and imagination took over.

Remembering 9/11 at the the National September 11 Memorial & Museum
By National Park Service – https://web.archive.org/web/20021019052836/http://www.nps.gov/remembrance/statue/index.htmlhttps://seminolelakerotary.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/statue_of_liberty.jpg, Public Domain, Link

Shortly after that rumor started I was picked up by my mom and it was that I was about September 11 terrorist attack. I don’t think I really processed what had happened until much later.  I had lost both my grandfathers while I was much younger and I understood death but a loss on this scale was different.  The national mourner our loss but it wasn’t just a USA tragedy.  It was an international tragedy.  The dead included people from 90 plus other nations.

I didn’t know anyone who died but I did have family in New York City that day, but I could feel the loss. This tragedy was the largest American tragedy since the Jonestown Massacre in 1978.  It was watched live on TV by millions.  It was an incredibly difficult time that brought the US together in ways I still don’t we as a country understand.  We all felt the loss.  It took many years for the memorial and museum to come to fruition.  The memorial opened in 2011 and the museum opened in 2014.

I walked out of World Trade Center Transportation Hub.  I stepped on to hollow ground.  This transit center was destroyed during the September 11 attacks.  It was a short walk from the Hub to the plaza that holds the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

The plaza has two great reflecting pools that stand in the footprints around the foundations of the two towers.  The names of the victims are on plaques around the reflecting pools.  I took time to walk around each of the two pools.  It was not uncommon to see a rose or a note tucked into a victim’s name. One tree near the pools stands apart from the other trees planted in the plaza.  This Callery pear is known as “Survivor Tree.”  The tree was found in the burnt and damaged among the wreckage of the tower.  With tender care, the tree shows new growth.

Remembering 9/11 at the the National September 11 Memorial & Museum

“September 11, 2001, revealed heroism in ordinary people who might have gone through their lives never called upon to demonstrate the extent of their courage.” —Geraldine Brooks

I have been to the Nazi concentration camps of Auschwitz, Dachau, and Mauthausen.    I have walked the sites of the American Indian massacres.  A tragedy happened at each of these sites, each visit was different but all of them were emotional visits.  The 9/11 Memorial was different.  This was the first memorial where I was a witness.

After the memorial, I headed over to the museum and bought a ticket to enter.  It cost $24.00 and the money goes towards the museum operating budget.  All tickets are timed for your entrance.  Tickets can be bought up to six months advanced.  The museum offers several guided tour options.  For my first visit, I wanted to just explore the museum at my own pace.

Like most of New York, there is airport style security at the entrance and then a bag check.  No bags are allowed in the museum.  I checked my camera and camera bag and I walked into the museum.  The museum starts with a walk down towards the basements.  It starts with a small introduction to the events and metal beams from towers.

The first hall is the Foundation Hall. The walls of the hall are the original slurry walls that made up part of the Twin Towers foundations.  The center of the slurry walls is the Last Column.  It was the last piece of the towers to be removed from the site.  It is covered with memorials and missing posters.  Around the hall are metal beams and works of art made to honor the victims.

One of the walls is covered in a multitude of blue squares.  That wall makes it hit home.  This isn’t just a museum.  It’s a mausoleum.  Behind that wall is the final resting place of the over 1,000 unidentified victims of 9/11. They are buried where they died.

My next exhibit was Memorial Exhibition.  This exhibition has 2,983 portraits on the walls.  Each portrait is of a victim.  The exhibit has various interactive stations when you can learn about a specific person and learn about them and their family. In a chamber inside the exhibit, you can hear the family stories about loss, funny memories of their relatives, and coming to terms with the loss.  Every story heart-wrenchinging.

The last exhibit was the Historical Exhibition. No photos are allowed in this section and I am not sure why anyone would want to take them here but I saw few selfie which just added to the emotions of the day.  The exhibition goes thru that fateful morning minute by minute with firsthand accounts, video footage, photos, and audio recordings from that day.  The audio recording includes first responder conversations as well as final phone calls from the towers and airplanes.

I walked out of the museum three hours later and was emotionally drained. It is the hardest museum I have ever been to.  I felt like I was physically reliving the past.  It was almost worse for me because I am now 16 years older and have a great understanding of loss.

“Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children.” former President George W. Bush

Where were you on September 11, 2001?  Would you visit the National September 11 Memorial & Museum while in NYC?  

20 thoughts on “Remembering 9/11 at the the National September 11 Memorial & Museum”

  1. I will openly admit that I was a mess when I visited the memorial and museum. I cried many times because they did such a great job of telling the story of not only the events, but of the individuals themselves. I hope everyone is one day able to visit this site, so that an event like this never happens again.

    1. I totally agree. It was something I need to visit and didn’t leave with dry eyes. It was very much like reliving the day and getting to know the lives lost.

  2. I lived just down the street while they were finishing construction of the fountains and the museum, so I had an almost daily reminder of the events that took place. I was in college at the time, and remember that morning with clarity. I’m glad that they did such a unique tribute, especially with the original foundations acting as a fountain and the names of those lost that day etched around the base. Definitely a must-visit for any NYC visitor.

  3. I’m reading this article on Sept 11 and the memories of this day come flooding back. I hope the museum, which I’ve heard so many good things about, helps bring closure and peace to all those personally affected by this horrible event and I’m so glad you mentioned that the admission price is supporting the museum’s operation costs. I think a lot of people forget how many resources go into the smooth operation of a museum and I hope it continues to get the support it needs to keep operating so beautifully and for being such an important destination.

    1. I was miffed at the admission price until I did some research and found out that it’s not cheap to operate the museum between all the preservations, building maintenance and crowd control.

  4. Such a powerful museum. I think everyone remembers where they were when the attacks took place. I was in my high school biology class and witnessed the second plane hit the World Trade Center live on television. There was so much sadness and confusion. I am glad they constructed such a beautiful memorial for such a tragic event.

    1. It is a really powerful museum that every American needs to visit. I sometimes still can’t believe that the whole thing happened.

  5. Sixteen years is a long time, but this event is one no-one will ever forget. The world stopped that day, and it’s etched into everyones minds no matter where they were in the world. Even though I was in Australia and only a child, I agree with you that it was a day where every-one felt the loss. I’m touched to hear that they’ve put so much into the memorial, especially the Memorial Exhibition where every victim lost that day has been remembered – it’s incredible that they’ve paid tribute to every single soul who lost their life that day, and given them a personal tribute. I don’t think I would make it through without tears. I’m in tears now 🙁

  6. I still cannot believe that 16 years have passed. I haven’t been to the memorial, but I can see that it’s a really poignant way to remember the victims and to memorialize the events. NYC will never be the same, but at least time helps to heal.

  7. Great write-up on the museum. Seems like such an essential visit for every American. Fascinating that they use elements of the original buildings. It looks like they’ve done an excellent job of memorializing what happened and honoring the victims.

    1. They did an amazing job with the memorial. It captures the magnitude of the what happened and keeps the focus on the lives lost.

  8. Thank you for sharing your story with the world! I’m so glad to see that I’m not the only travel blogger who wrote about my own experience of what happened on that horrible day 16 years ago. Don’t you also agree that the 9/11 reflection pools are one of the strongest memorials?

  9. Very informative post. I never knew there was a mausoleum in the Memorial Museum. This sounds like a very emotional and moving memorial.

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