NYC Blog Post

Predictions/Questions:
1. With nearly 3,000 people dying in the attacks of 9/11 I’d like to see how the museum honors and recognizes the death of so many people so that this memorial became a special place for those who lost someone on that day.
2. Even after learning about 9/11 all my life I predict that being on and seeing the actual site will hit me harder than just learning about it from a far. I would like to remember and collect the feelings and thoughts I have from witnessing the magnitude of what happened in person.
3. I’d like to discover if the museum focuses solely on the victims and their story or if also sheds light on the attackers and their involvement.

Devastation was the first word that came to mind when walking down the ramp of the 9/11 museum and seeing only one pillar and some foundation pieces of the building left. To think about what used to be and then seeing what it is now, took my breathe away. Although, the emotion that came from some rubble did not nearly compare to the portions of the museum that focused on the 3,000 victims that had lost their lives that day. The large quote on one of the first walls I saw when exploring the museum, “No day shall erase you from the memory of time” revealed what I took as to be the purpose of many exhibits and the museum itself. In my opinion it does a great job of honoring those who passed away in a respectable way that allows their lives and stories to never be forgotten.

The room that contained the photographs of all the victims led me to see diversity as one of the American values that was represented. On one day that many people from different walks of life, with differences in ethnicity, race, age and wealth, were together in the same city and in some cases, the same building. When 9/11 is recognized as a terrorist attack on Americans and then you see the great differences in each and every person’s photo hung on that wall, it exhibited in my eyes the diversity that is found throughout America.

When continuing to the portion of the museum that went into great detail of the attacks, providing video and news footage of the distress that went on that day, the importance of protecting our freedom as Americans was extremely visible. If I was one of the policemen, firefighters or medical responders that needed to enter the scene I don’t know if I could when seeing videos of how much chaos was going on in the city during the attack. Those who went to help others and put themselves in danger were extremely brave. They assisted the country that day regardless of the risks, knowing that what they were doing needed to be done to protect America and our freedom. Something that stood out to me was the firetruck that was destroyed while making its way through the city that day. It proves how catastrophic the attack was and how in danger citizens truly were. I believe it depicted those who lost their lives in trying to save others from the horrors of that day as honorable because they stood up to those trying to bring fear and destruction to our country.

The overall mood of the museum is very somber and sorrowful and I felt as though that stemmed from America never having anything quite like this happening to us before. We haven’t had war on our land since the Civil War so you can understand why Americans were so shocked on 9/11. One specific photo of a women who was cut by glass falling from the buildings hit me hard because she went to work like any other day and ended up in such a horrible and heartbreaking situation in the exact spot I was visiting that day. Observing and seeing how completely shocked many people were caused me to wonder if the attacks caused that reaction because of the powerful reputation America had prior. It seemed many who were there that day never believed something like that could occur in America or to us. Overall the museum reveals how heavily impacted America was and I hope that something like this museum will always keep those who lost their lives alive in memory and help us learn from that day to prevent anything like it happening again.

https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/brian-williams-reporting-inside-9-11-museum-n105546