FAYETTEVILLE — The nation’s first 9/11 mobile museum was unveiled in Fayetteville on Wednesday — the 12th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001 — featuring artifacts from the tragedy, including pieces of the World Trade Center and pictures and audio from Ground Zero.
The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a New York-based nonprofit, constructed the 53-foot long museum which carried donated memorabilia from the 9/11 attacks, including names of the people lost that day.
John Carroll, a retired New York City Fire Department battalion chief who aided people at Ground Zero on 9/11, said the museum’s purpose is to make sure people never forget the attack and the sacrifices made that day. Carroll is traveling with the museum and is a foundation advisory board member.
“Freedom’s really not free,” he said. “This is to keep awareness of what happened on 9/11 alive so people never forget and that they continue making sacrifices to keep this country as great as it is.”
Carroll said the foundation noticed that the post-9/11 generation isn’t being taught about the attacks in schools.
“As time goes on, people are just going to forget about it completely,” he said.
LaVern Oxendine , a Fayetteville resident who visited the mobile museum, said the Fort Bragg area is a good place for the museum to start because it reminds people why soldiers are currently overseas.
“This reminds us of why our soldiers are fighting in harm’s way over there in Iraq and Afghanistan and other places, especially in this city,” he said. “We have the largest base in the country here at Fort Bragg.”
Sgt. 1st Class James Fischer said he vividly remembers 9/11 but meeting firefighters who were at Ground Zero made him feel more connected to the event.