Children’s 9/11 Tributes on Display at Flight 93 Memorial

The Learning Center at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, is seen on a partly sunny day.
The Learning Center is a multipurpose building, where the exhibit “Through Their Eyes” is on display. Photo courtesy of NPS/Brenda Schwartz.

Legos locking to form a plane, small toy firetrucks, stuffed animals and other tributes by children are on display at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pa., one of the three attack sites on Sept. 11.

The temporary exhibition “Through Their Eyes” displays these tributes and more that were left behind near or on a fence at a temporary memorial soon after the 2001 attacks.

“Children want to know that their world is safe – that there are helpers to protect them and their families,” Barbara Black, memorial curator and exhibit creator, said in an AP report. “But they are also empathetic and compassionate when others are suffering.”

The passengers of hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 are revered as heroes for fighting back against the terrorists, who crashed the plane into a field. Killed were 40 crew members and passengers, including Todd Beamer, whose last reported words were “let’s roll” as he and other passengers tried to overpower the hijackers. Beamer’s watch, which has the number 11 frozen on the date indicator, is on display in the 9/11 Memorial Museum.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed in New York City, at the Pentagon and in Shanksville on 9/11.

The exhibit is open between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays this month. For more information, visit the National Park Service’s website.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff

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