Every year on Sept. 11, people across the country are reminded of the terrorist attacks that occurred in 2001.
Not only did the terrorists take the World Trade Center towers and cause tremendous damage to the Pentagon, they also took thousands of lives because of the attacks.
Danny Laub, a junior at Saint Louis University and vice chairman of SLU College Republicans, took part in a national movement that aimed its efforts at helping students across the country remember.
“We’re calling it the 9/11 Project,” Laub said.
On Sept. 11, 2009, Laub and several other students placed 2,977 American flags into the grass across from Griesedieck Tower.
They named the display “Never Forget.” Each flag served as a silent reminder of someone who died that day.
“The flags memorialize those that perished in the 9/11 attacks,” Laub said.
Laub and other students also set up a table in the Quad to explain the project. The group gave out 9/11 remembrance buttons to students who were passing by.
Laub said that he hoped the memorial would elicit a reaction from students.
“We’re hoping for people to just stop and think; it’s going to be a powerful memorial. The purpose of this project is to bring Sept. 11 back to the forefront of people’s minds and to bring justice to those who died,” Laub said.
The national movement that Laub is involved in is called Young America’s Foundation.
Laub and the rest of the students in the organization are hoping to remind and to help people to always remember what happened eight years ago.
“[The foundation] provides support to college campuses across the country,” Laub said. “Essentially, Young America has weaved a web of college campuses that are participating in this memorial. . It’s one of those things where people who don’t have a personal connection can still feel, reflect and remember.”
Ryan Gach, chairman of SLU College Republicans, said, “We’ve had a really positive reaction so far; a lot of students have stopped to take pictures.”
“A family on tour from Chattanooga, Tenn., also told us that we were the only campus in the area that had a memorial set up.”
