9/11 Memorial PSA aims to educate millions who weren't alive during the terror attacks
NEW YORK (WABC) -- A new public service announcement from the 9/11 Memorial & Museum is aimed at a generation of Americans who have no memory of the attacks.
"I wasn't there. I didn't see the planes," a voice says in the 60-second spot.
The campaign targets the roughly 100 million Americans who were not alive on Sept. 11, 2001, those who never witnessed the terrorism and heroism, and never experienced the service and sacrifice of that day.
Among them is 12-year-old Kylie Corrigan. Her father and uncle serve with the FDNY, following in the footsteps of her grandfather, retired FDNY Capt. James Corrigan, who died in the collapse of the South Tower. When asked to take part in the PSA, she agreed immediately.
"I wasn't there, but I'll never forget," she says in the campaign.
"I kind of just think of him as my dad because everyone always says that they look alike and they have the same personalities," Corrigan said.
The PSA is part of the Memorial & Museum's "Never Forget" fundraising campaign, which aims to raise $25 million. Philanthropist, former mayor and current museum chairman Michael Bloomberg has pledged to match that amount. The funds will support efforts to provide 9/11 education to millions of students.
"To commemorate the people who were killed on 9/11, to educate the world about what happened on that day and after, now that we are 25 years after, and to inspire an end to hatred and intolerance. That is what a 9/11 education is about," said Beth Hillman, president and CEO of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.
Hillman said the contributions will also help fund a landmark exhibition, create a permanent funding source and expand free programs for students, teachers and first responders.
"We are offering 9/11 crisis leadership training to people across the public sector, and we are bringing those programs to the private sector because we know how much they can benefit from learning how people led after 9/11," she said.
The mission resonates with Keith Walcott Jr., whose father, a Port Authority police officer, responded to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and assisted in recovery efforts
after 9/11. His father's dedication inspired Walcott to follow a similar path.
"He told me, if you are going to do it, do it with integrity and have compassion," Walcott said. "And then I took that and I made my decision."
Now a Port Authority police officer himself, Walcott is also featured in the PSA and shares the campaign's goal, to educate younger generations and remind older ones of a universal duty: never forget.
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