Young America’s Foundation Commemorates the 20th Anniversary of 9/11

On the anniversary of 9/11, American flags dot the front yard of the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home—YAF’s newest site—in Dixon, Illinois.

By Breana Marsh, Director of YAF Membership

Two decades after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Young America’s Foundation’s student activists at more than 200 campuses nationwide marked this important anniversary by organizing YAF’s annual 9/11: Never Forget Project. YAF President Governor Scott Walker remarked,

Our country was forever changed after the events of 9/11. Every student younger than 20 years old in this country was born after 9/11. As

YAF’s flag display on the National Mall commemorates the 20th anniversary of 9/11.

YAF student activists at Ave Maria University remember the lives lost on September 11, 2001. Stanford University students honor the victims of 9/11 by organizing a moving flag memorial on campus.

Continuing a longstanding tradition, Young America’s Foundation staff, students, and community members set up a beautiful flag display on West Beach in Santa Barbara, California.

schools and public officials across the country attempt to sanitize the tragic attacks, we need to remind the next generation of what happened, who did it, and why they did it.

Since the Foundation launched this initiative in 2003, thousands of colleges, schools, and communities have organized Never Forget displays, resulting in more than 12 million flags displayed in remembrance of the individuals murdered by radical Islamists on 9/11. This initiative has grown into the largest nationwide student activism project and become a patriotic tradition from coast to coast. In virtually all cases, the displays are created by students, not by administrators or faculty members. Indeed, if not for the work of patriotic students, many of whom are too young to remember the attacks, most educational institutions would ignore this anniversary.

The iconic Never Forget displays, composed of 2,977 American flags— one for each innocent life taken—bring schools, communities, and individuals together to pay tribute and keep America’s promise to “never forget.”

Sadly, it has become commonplace for school administrators, educators, and radical leftists to restrict students’ ability to organize this project. The year 2021 was no exception, with vandals destroying 9/11: Never Forget displays at several schools.

In one incident, a student senator at Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) ripped American flags from the ground—destroying the Never Forget display organized by the campus conservative club—and threw them in trash bags. The student was caught on video by a vigilant member of the club, and the university, which faced

YAF activists at the University of Michigan participate in Young America’s Foundation’s 9/11: Never Forget Project by planting 2,977 American flags. The YAF chapter at Portland High School in Tennessee welcomes members of the law enforcement and first responder communities to mark the 20th anniversary of 9/11.

immediate public pressure to punish the vandal, condemned his actions and announced the opening of an investigation.

Following YAF’s media campaign, Americans nationwide pressured WUSTL to hold the student senator accountable. Yet, members of the WUSTL community—including more than 50 faculty members—and some student organizations signed a letter in defense of his actions, calling them a “protest” against “the symbol of American imperialism.”

WUSTL has since taken punitive action against the student senator, including requiring him to complete probation and an essay assignment, as well as pay a $500 restitution for the damaged American flags. Additionally, he was removed from his resident assistant position on campus.

At Michigan State University (MSU), vandals covered the word “Never” with black spray paint, making the YAF chapter’s display read “Forget” instead of “Never Forget.” MSU YAF Chairman Charlie Jones responded,

It’s stunning that someone would vandalize a memorial to the victims of the September 11th attacks, but it also underscores why we do this every year—to ensure that the innocent lives taken that day are never forgotten.

Despite similar challenges on many campuses, the 9/11: Never Forget Project reached millions of young people nationwide. Alexander Munguia, chairman of the YAF chapter at the University of Florida, noted the special significance of students’ involvement in organizing this memorial:

The importance of this year’s anniversary cannot

Boston University YAF joins hundreds of student organizations nationwide in setting up Young America’s Foundation’s annual flag memorial.

Community members from the town of Dixon, Illinois, help commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9/11 near the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home. A member of the Texas A&M University YAF chapter helps set up a 9/11 display on campus.

be overstated—this year’s freshman class was not even born when 9/11 happened. I, as a sophomore, was born six months after the attacks had happened, only knowing the horror stories from my parents of that tragic day in American history.

In addition to students’ efforts nationwide, Young America’s Foundation staff organized Never Forget displays on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.; in Santa Barbara, California; and at the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home in Dixon, Illinois.

Just steps from the U.S. Capitol, YAF’s 9/11 display on the National Mall allowed thousands of residents, visitors, and students to honor the victims of the terrorist attacks.

Similarly, YAF staff organized a moving memorial on West Beach in Santa Barbara, continuing a longstanding tradition of promoting patriotism among young people on the West Coast.

At the Reagan Boyhood Home— now preserved by YAF—Foundation staff led more than 100 local students and community members in organizing a solemn memorial service. The program featured a color guard from the local American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts; the national anthem performed by the Dixon High School Honors Choir; and remarks from members of the local fire department, a Ground Zero first responder, and Dixon Mayor Liandro Arellano.

It is thanks to the work of thousands of patriotic Young America’s Foundation students nationwide that the next generation of Americans learn and understand our country’s history.

The Southern Methodist University YAF chapter marks the 20th anniversary of 9/11 with a patriotic flag display in the heart of the Dallas campus. YAF students at Wheaton Academy in Illinois, the alma mater of 9/11 hero Todd Beamer, organize Young America’s Foundation’s flag display.