LEAVING A LEGACY OF GRATITUDE

The Next Generation of Grateful Americans

This Spring, students from Christian Preparatory Academy traveled to our nation’s capital to learn more about the profound impact 9/11 had on our country, and how ordinary Americans became heroes who responded. On this trip, sponsored by the Gary Sinise Foundation, history stopped being a chapter in a textbook and became something they could stand inside, touch, and feel.

“There are people in this world who believe that America is worth their own life.” — Kyla B.

From “I Didn’t Know” to “I Will Never Forget”

These middle school students were born years after September 11, 2001. For them, 9/11 existed as a date on a timeline — important, but distant – with some missing details.

Student Charlotte G. admitted she had no idea the Pentagon was even a target that day. “I didn’t even know that the Pentagon was hit during 9/11,” she said after the trip. “I thought it was only the two planes.”

Standing in the very corridors where military men and women work each day — and where 184 people lost their lives — transformed that gap in knowledge into something far more powerful: a sense of personal responsibility.

Putting Human Faces on History

At the Pentagon Memorial, students encountered 184 memorial benches — each one representing a life lost on 9/11. For Elise H., three of those benches stopped her cold: they belonged to children who were 11 years old when they died.

“Seeing the three eleven-year-olds’ memorial benches was extremely sad,” Elise said, “and it reminded me that all of these people had lives and were students, teachers, kids, brothers, sisters, and parents.”

Kyla B. felt it too. Learning that children younger than herself had perished that day — some as young as three years old — reshaped her own sense of place in history. “I have to realize how blessed I am that I have lived longer than kids who died at 3 years old,” she reflected.

Oliver B., meanwhile, arrived with a solid factual understanding of 9/11 — but left with something a textbook cannot offer. “I got to see and hear first-person experiences from that day. I never really knew how many first responders there were, or how normal people helped each other.”

A Definition They Will Carry for Life

Perhaps the most striking outcome of this trip was the way it gave students language for something they had never put into words before. The concept of a “grateful American” — what it means, what it demands of you — came alive in Washington, D.C. in a way no classroom discussion could replicate.

Sam H. said it plainly: “I don’t know if I have ever had a definition for a grateful American before, but I do now, based on this trip.” His definition? Someone who is “proud and grateful to live in the freedom and liberty of the United States because of the sacrifice of those who serve, whether it be first responders or military.”

The students also met Doc Jacobs, a severely wounded Navy veteran who traveled with the group and spoke with them at Arlington National Cemetery. His testimony — raw, honest, and marked by the weight of survivor’s guilt — left a deep impression. “He said even after all he went through and still has to deal with now, that we were worth it. I’ve never heard something more impactful to my heart in my life.”

Oliver B. arrived at his own definition with quiet clarity: “I am so thankful to live in a country where there are people who care about each other and will help when disaster comes.”

A Generation Ready to Carry the Torch

Time and again, when asked what responsibility their generation carries, these students rose to the moment. They spoke of keeping stories alive, of preventing the past from repeating, of honoring the fallen not just with words but with the way they choose to live.

“My generation has the responsibility of remembering and honoring 9/11, so that no one will forget what happened. We need to keep it up, to keep telling the stories, to keep the facts straight and unbiased, to prevent any of this from ever happening again.”

Thanks to you, we brought history to life, educating the next generation about the heroes who came before them, and ensuring the stories of those lost will live on for generations to come.