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🇦🇷 Argentina /Culture & Society

25 Years Later, the United States Seeks to Keep the Memory of 9/11 Alive

From Clarín · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • The United States is marking 25 years since the September 11, 2001, attacks, which killed 2,977 people and reshaped the country and the world.
  • President Donald Trump will attend a ceremony at the Pentagon, while Vice President JD Vance and four former presidents are expected at Ground Zero in Manhattan.
  • The 9/11 Memorial & Museum is focusing increasingly on education and younger visitors as more Americans have no firsthand memory of the attacks.

A quarter-century after the September 11 attacks, the United States is confronting a new challenge: preserving the memory of an event that an increasing share of the population did not experience firsthand.

Many people of my generation remember exactly where we were on that horrible day.

· Beth HillmanThe 9/11 Memorial & Museum president described how older Americans remember the attacks firsthand.

President Donald Trump will pay tribute at the Pentagon rather than in New York, where hijacked passenger planes struck the World Trade Center and caused most of the 2,977 recorded deaths. Vice President JD Vance and former presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George Bush, who was president when the attacks took place, are expected at Ground Zero in lower Manhattan. The New York Times reported that Trump would not attend because he would not be allowed to give a speech there, under rules intended to keep the commemoration nonpartisan. Trump called that report “made up.”

“Many people of my generation remember exactly where we were on that horrible day,” said Beth Hillman, president of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum and a former U.S. Air Force member. But, she said, 100 million Americans “were not even born or were too young to remember” the tragedy.

100 million Americans were not even born or were too young to remember.

· Beth HillmanShe highlighted the challenge of passing the memory of 9/11 to younger generations.

The museum now places greater emphasis on outreach, education and younger generations. Trained volunteers, including first responders, speak with visitors who know the disaster mainly through their parents or school. Logan Miller, 32, who lost an uncle and a grandfather in the attacks, said younger visitors are “more inquisitive” and ask more questions than older people, who sometimes hesitate because they fear causing offense. The museum receives 2.4 million visitors a year.

More inquisitive

· Logan MillerThe museum volunteer said younger visitors ask more questions than older visitors.

Ignacio Gaete, a 22-year-old visitor from Chile, said it was important for him to visit even though he had not been born in 2001. The memorial’s two large pools occupy the footprints of the Twin Towers. Gaete said the events could “transcend generations,” but that doing so requires continued preservation and education. The description also notes that the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused of planning the attacks, is scheduled for 2028.

Transcend generations

· Ignacio GaeteThe Chilean visitor said the significance of 9/11 could endure beyond those who remember it personally.
About this summary

Originally published by Clarín in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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