9/11 Tribute Museum offers Veterans Day Program and Two Family Programs

The 9/11 Tribute Museum is pleased to announce the first of its public programs for the 2017-2018 season. All programs take place at the 9/11 Tribute Museum and admission to the Museum is not required to attend.

Soldiers to Share their Stories at 9/11 Tribute Museum – November 9, at 6:30pm

The 9/11 Tribute Museum and the NYU Creative Writing Program will present Soldiers’ Stories from the Front, An Evening of Veterans Reading Their Writing, on Thursday, November 9, 2017 at 6:30pm, at the 9/11 Tribute Museum, 92 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10006.

This program, being held in recognition of Veterans Day, will feature veterans who have served overseas, including in Iraq and Afghanistan, and who are now participants in the Veterans’ Writing Workshop, part of the Creative Writing Program at New York University. Each Saturday the veterans gather to work on fiction and non-fiction pieces they have written about their experiences at war.

The goal of the workshop is to offer veterans an opportunity to express themselves on paper, to cultivate a voice with which to bear witness and tell their stories, to be heard, and to record their experiences in combat and afterward. Like the 9/11 Tribute Museum’s tour guides, the veterans have stories to share. This reading is an opportunity for people who have never been at war to begin to understand what experiences in the field are like, and how the veterans bridge those experiences with their lives at home.

The 9/11 Tribute Museum originated this program in 2010 in tribute to the members of the military who have served our country.

Meet a Working K-9 – November 18, at 1:00 pm

The 9/11 Tribute Museum will present K-9s Help Keep the City Safe on Saturday, November 18, 2017 at 1:00pm, at the 9/11 Tribute Museum, 92 Greenwich Street, New York NY 10006.

This family-friendly program will feature Robert Martino and his dog Vicki who help keep New York safe. Mr. Martino is a retired member of the NYPD who now works for MSA Security, one of the largest private security firms in the area with more than 200 animal handlers. Vicki is a three-year-old dog who previously worked as a seeing-eye canine, but, due to her extraordinary sense of smell and her curiosity about scents, became a bomb-sniffing dog and Mr. Martino’s canine partner. Together Mr. Martino and Vicki work at sporting events, concerts and transportation hubs to help ensure that people in the city are protected.

Families attending the program will have a chance to observe the dog demonstrating her olfactory skills, to learn about her training and to take a photo with the dog. Children of all ages are welcome. No family pets will be admitted due to Vicki’s professional training.

Create a Peace Lantern – December 2, at 1:00pm

The 9/11 Tribute Museum will present Create a Peace Lantern, a holiday program for families, on Saturday, December 2 at 1:00pm, at the 9/11 Tribute Museum, 92 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10006.

Members of the interfaith community, including members of Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Native American communities, will each offer a short prayer to celebrate the universal wish for peace, health and happiness for all human beings. Families will then have a chance to work together to create paper peace lanterns. In this season when many holidays are celebrated with candles and lights, the peace lanterns will have battery-operated flames that will add to the feelings of warmth of the season.

The tradition of interfaith prayer services was greatly expanded in the days, weeks and months after September 11, 2001. On the day of the attacks, interfaith chaplains at Columbia University organized a campus-wide gathering for the members of the community. On September 20, President George Bush invited religious leaders from all around the country to a conversation about the sanctity of human life. Around New York City, clergy members from many denominations began ministering to the 9/11 family members and the people working on the recovery. When Pope Francis visited the 9/11 Memorial in 2015, he was welcomed by representatives of many of the city’s religious traditions.

Everyone is invited to attend. Children ages 4 and up are welcome to attend with an adult. Each group will work together to decorate their own lantern.

All programs are free and open to the public, but reservations are requested. Please email rsvp@911tributemuseum.org to confirm a seat.