The National Health and Public Safety History Museum announced its cancellation of the Sept. 11 memorial service and stair climb this week, although the museum with its 9/11 chapel featuring a piece of the World Trade Center will be open on Sept.11 for everyone to come and observe.
Museum co-founder Eddy Weiss made the announcement in a social media post which read as follows:
“Our present college freshmen were not born yet when the terrorist group al-Qaeda launched a series of four coordinated attacks against the United States using four hijacked passenger airplanes.
“Two of the planes crashed into the Twin Towers of New York City’s World Trade Center, while a third was flown into the Pentagon, the Department of Defense headquarters, near Washington.
“Passengers on the fourth plane, likely bound for the White House, retook control of the aircraft and crashed it into a field in Pennsylvania.
“That day, 2,977 people died, as did all 19 of the al-Qaeda hijackers, in the single deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
“While we now have a generation without any idea what that day was like or the effect it had on our nation, for older Americans, that day still is a vivid memory, but how long will that memory last in society?
“This year marks the 20th anniversary of that day, a day that changed us as people. For a while, we were actually the UNITED States of America. This is something our younger generation has never seen.
“While we are more than saddened by the cancellation of our own event, we intend on being open all day and hosting anyone that wished to come and remember with us.
“Visit the chapel and spend some time. We encourage you to find services and other events in and around the area that day and we also encourage you to bring your children.
“We will be posting 9-11 events from the area here on our FaceBook for the next two weeks to give you some options of things to attend like the Rodeo right here in Dublin that is promising a night of Texas-style entertainment for the entire family along with a 9-11 Memorial Service.
“If you pre-registered for the Stair Climb/Walk, you can expect your full refund before September 11th.”
More information on the museum can be found on the National Health and Public Safety History Museum facebook page or at frontlineheroesmuseum.org
—Citizen staff report