September 11 Memorial Exhibition makes a stop in Des Moines
By Sue Ann Chong
10.27.07

A crowd was formed at the Capitol Building in Des Moines on Tuesday, October 23. It was not any form of petition or demonstration, but they were there for the National September 11 Memorial and Museum exhibition.

Being the third stop of the tour, those involved said that Des Moines certainly gave the tour all the support it deserved. “So far the reaction has been tremendous. There’s been an outpouring of support everywhere from the lieutenant governor to the governor to the Mayor, and we really welcome that support,” said Lyn Rasik, the coordinator of the national tour.

The main purpose of the tour is to raise funds for building the National 911 Memorial and Museum in Ground Zero. The tour will be heading to Omaha after this.

Besides fundraising, the exhibition tour also aspires to honor those lives that were lost in the terrorist attacks of September 11 2003. Lynn talked about how the experience had been really overwhelming for her. “It’s really overwhelming in terms of the emotions and the heartfelt compassion we receive at every stop,” explained Rasik.

“We meet family members who lost loved ones, we meet people who responded, Red Cross workers… that’s really wonderful to see that outpouring of support. Because that’s what the memorial really represents,” added Rasik.

Molly Anderson, a visitor at the exhibition who used to worked for former Governor Vilsack, shared her story during the aftermath of the September 11 tragedy, “I actually was in charge of that point of time when 911 happened,” said Anderson “I worked for Governor Vilsack, and it was our job to try to plan for the vacation of the capital to move people and to ensure that the governor was safe. “

The tour will make its way into 22 other major cities in the nation, with the same aspiration; which is to make an impact on the nation, about something that it shall never forget. The tour will end in Tampa, Florida, on December 17.