A desire to honor those lost in combat inspired the construction of NC State’s Memorial Belltower in the 1920s.
In that same spirit, the NC State community gathered at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 11, at the Belltower to honor first responders and soldiers, especially those lost in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the wars they sparked.
The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks presented unprecedented challenges to our country.
Chief among the tasks facing the United States after the attacks: innovation to meet those challenges. In fields from textiles to foreign-language training, NC State has been at the forefront, yielding better fabrics for firefighters and technology for detecting improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in combat zones.
How people learn of good or bad news tends to be etched forever in the minds of each individual, and every generation has a touchstone tragic event that transcends most other memories. The assassination of President John Kennedy. The space shuttle Challenger explosion. The terrorist attacks of 9/11. Each of these events links the masses in answering the commonly asked question: "Where were you?"