A huge piece of steel on fire above me.
A fierce wind, like a hurricane.
Thousands of people, screaming and running down the street.
I remember seeing what I tell myself were mannequins, which I know they weren''t, and bundles of rags on fire. — World Trade Center survivors, documentary from The National September 11 Memorial & Museum
What are we to remember from Sept. 11, 2001? The building of history around a tragedy is complicated by the diverse views of those near to and far from the World Trade Center that day. The touring National September 11 Memorial & Museum will host a ceremony and exhibition starting at 10 a.m. and continuing until 6 p.m. near the Capitol tomorrow, providing answers to that question.
The ceremony will open with a community signing of a steel beam recovered from ground zero and speeches by a Sept. 11 first responder and a retired New York firefighter. An exhibition with photographs, artifacts and a short documentary with testimony from survivors and those close to the events will follow on the 100 block of Martin Luther King Blvd. between Main Street and Doty Street, according to the organization's website, National911memorial.org.
The National September 11 Memorial & Museum is touring the country to educate the public about plans for a memorial and museum at ground zero, and seek donations large and small from across the nation.
Participants in the ceremony include first responder fire chief Debra Amesqua and Lee Ielpi, a retired New York firefighter and Vietnam War veteran who lost his son Jonathan Ielpi, also a New York firefighter, during the World Trade Center attacks Sept. 11.
