[media-credit name=’BEN CLASSON/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]Few college students do not remember exactly where they were or what they were doing the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

And dozens of University of Wisconsin students gathered on Bascom Hill Tuesday pledged never to forget the events of 9/11 and the nearly 3,000 lives lost exactly six years earlier.

Various student organizations supported a nationwide event sponsored by the Young America's Foundation by placing 2,997 American Flags on Bascom Hill to honor each civilian who lost his or her life on Sept. 11.

YAF began the "Never Forget Project" event in 2003, and now, more than 150 campuses participate.

On Tuesday evening, Rev. Eric Nielsen from St. Paul's Church in Madison gave an invocation at the memorial. Nielsen addressed the importance of working together for peace, justice and truth while drowning evil with the desire to do what is right.

Nielsen said he hopes the nation can overcome those whose purpose is to destroy the country.

Both UW College Republicans and College Democrats united together and were among the sponsors of the event.

"We are here to honor the lives that were lost and to focus on the victims and historical event, not just the politics that has come from it," College Republicans Vice Chair Mattie Duppler said.

Suchita Shah, vice chair of the College Democrats, said this was the first event the College Democrats have co-sponsored this semester, and it will lead up to another memorial for fallen troops.

Next Wednesday on Bascom Hill, the College Democrats will hold an event to honor American soldiers who lost their lives in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

College Republicans Chair Sara Mikolajczak also emphasized the importance of working together to prepare for the memorial.

"It's great to have help and support from so many organizations on the UW-Madison campus and in the surrounding community to create this memorial," Mikolajczak said. "It allows everyone to take a step back and remember what happened six years ago. We will never forget."

At the conclusion of the invocation, Duppler asked those who attended the memorial to help take down the 2,997 flags so they can be used in future memorials.

The event was followed by the College Republicans kickoff, where Lt. Col. John G. Krenson, the U.S. liaison to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, spoke on the events that occurred on Sept. 11.

Krenson focused on how the attacks personally affected each American differently but brought the entire nation together in the fight against terrorism.

"Terrorists gave people working in the World Trade Center two choices: to jump to their deaths or to burn to death," Krenson said. "9/11 was the day we, regular Americans, started to fight back. When civilians took over that plane and crashed it into a field in Pennsylvania, we were fighting back."