FIRST ON FOX — A new national push to preserve the memory of the September 11 terrorist attacks for generations too young to remember that day is launching this week ahead of America’s 250th anniversary.
Starting July 1, the 9/11 Legacy Foundation will offer a free national curriculum on Freedom250.org to educate, increase awareness and encourage civic action. Built around an “Active Remembrance” model, the curriculum is designed to help participants not just learn about these historical events but also preserve these memories through community engagement. The website features modules designed from audiences of all ages that are customizable for elementary schools, universities, families, churches, and corporations, and it maps out more than 1,100 memorial sites across the nation.
Dr. Chris Meek, founder of the 9/11 Legacy Foundation, told Fox News Digital the initiative is more important now than ever, citing educational gaps, alarming online trends and declining patriotism.
Only 14 states currently mandate 9/11 education in schools, he said. Meek is also concerned by data showing American pride has hit a 25-year-low, according to Gallup, following other polling indicating many young people struggle to define the phrase, “Never Forget,” along with TikTok videos sympathizing with Osama bin Laden’s 2002 “Letter to America” that racked up millions of views.
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The release also comes just days after Colorado Democratic Socialist candidate Melat Kiros drew national headlines for saying that the 9/11 attacks were “inevitable” after U.S. and Israeli military actions in the Middle East.
Meek told Fox News Digital this curriculum combats online misinformation by sticking strictly to the documented facts surrounding that day.
“This is presenting all the facts, not the theories of conspiracy theories that are out there,” Meek said. “We’ve just mapped out everything that’s factual in nature… So it’s allowing people to put their fingertips on the facts, and not listening to somebody’s video or read a social media post based on theory or rhetoric.”
With over 100 million Americans born in the years after September 11, Meek says it’s more important than ever to help new generations of Americans understand what these attacks cost America.
Terrorists hijacked four jets and crashed three of them into the World Trade Center and Pentagon; the fourth was forced down in a field in Pennsylvania by heroic passengers trying to prevent another building from being attacked.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed by the attacks. Thousands of deaths have also been attributed to illnesses related to toxic exposure at Ground Zero in New York City.
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“September 11 is not just a chapter in a history book, it is a living legacy that continues to shape who we are as a nation,” he said in a statement. “Being part of the Freedom 250 platform on this milestone observance means that as Americans pause to reflect on 250 years of freedom, they will also have the opportunity to engage deeply with one of the most defining moments of the last 25 years.”
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Meek’s mission is born out of his first-hand experience as a survivor of the terror attacks. On September 11, 2001, he was working as a trader for Goldman Sachs, less than half a mile from Ground Zero. The experience drove him to dedicate his life to giving back to U.S. service members, leading him to co-found SoldierStrong, a nonprofit that provides medical technology to help injured veterans.
With the 25th anniversary of 9/11 falling 69 days after America’s 250th, Meek hopes the resource will help Americans embrace the unity and patriotism that arose in the days following that tragic day.
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“More than ever this country is divided, for various reasons. We need to go back to the way we were on September 12, where everyone was the United States of America,” he said.
This Sept. 11 will mark the 25th anniversary of the attacks.
