Cedar Grove High School students honor 9/11 victims with 2,977 flags

CEDAR GROVE (WABC) -- The nation will pause Friday to remember the thousands of people who died on September 11, 2001.

It was 14 years ago that our nation came under attack, and for a group of high schoolers at Cedar Grove, they have created a special art installation to remember the victims.

Juniors and seniors at Cedar Grove High School, who were just toddlers at the time, have transformed the front lawn into a memorial for the victims and heroes of 9/11.

"It's upsetting hearing what had happened to them," senior Jamie Smith. "And us being at such a young age we don't remember it."

It is meaningful to them all, and their principal, now leading this generation too young to be aware of the horrific attacks on their country.

"What a way to share such a tragedy that took place 14 years than with a group of kids here at Cedar Grove High School," he said.

The exhibit is 2,977 flags, with 2,977 holes drilled to hold them all, each bearing the name of a person who died that day.

"We get to do this very nice thing for 9/11, for the sad people who lost their lives during that tragic event," one junior said.

Inside, they get a thorough history lesson about the sadness, the anger and the healing, all of it an incredible idea from a parent who takes to heart the meaning of the the phrase "never forget."

"When you see 2,977 flags on the front lawn of your high school, it starts a conversation," that parent said.

The flags will fly through September 23, the start of an annual tradition.