Fort Hood Receives Survivor Tree Seedlings

Dozens of Survivor Tree seedlings are seen in black planter pots on the ground.
Saplings from the 9/11 Memorial are given to communities that endured tragedy in recent years. (Photo: Amy Dreher)

Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas is the latest community to receive seedlings from the Survivor Tree on the 9/11 Memorial.

The memorial announced back in September that it would give seedlings to communities that endured tragedy in recent years, partnering with Stamford, Conn.-based Bartlett Tree Expert Company, which harvested the seeds, and John Bowne High School in the Flushing neighborhood of Queens, which cares for them.

Oso, Wash., and Gulfport, Miss., have also received seedlings.

The seedlings in Fort Hood honor the 16 victims and survivors of the shootings there in November 2009 and April 2014 and acknowledge the continued sacrifice of men and women who serve as well as their families.

“This tree has very deep scars, and so do our families,” Joleen Cahill, widow of the only civilian killed on Nov. 5, 2009, told the Killeen Daily Herald. “Now we can look at this tree and look at our lives and continue to heal.”

As part of the September 2014 announcement, the 9/11 Memorial, in collaboration with creative firm BBDO, published an interactive e-book called “Survivor Tree,” narrated by Whoopi Goldberg.

By Jordan Friedman, 9/11 Memorial Research and Digital Projects Associate

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