9.11 Never Forget

My son stayed late at Milton HS last night to help his teammate on the swim team, Michael Smith put out flags in commemoration of 9.11. May my sons and their generations never forget the hate and horror of that day.

ALPHARETTA, Ga. -- The front lawn of Milton High School is blanketed with flags as students arrived to school. "I am at a lost for words really," said Milton High School junior Michael Smith. For many, the impact is immediate, visceral. 2, 977 flags remind every student at Milton High School of every life lost.

"It really shows you how big of a catastrophe that was," said Smith, who organized the tribute.
8:46 A.M. The hall intercom cracks with the announcement "now, we are going to hold a moment of silent reflection for the September 11 victims." The halls of Milton High School fall silent. "Really every American was affected by it," said Smith. This time 7 years ago, the high school students sat in elementary school, too young to understand then, what they simply cannot forget now. "We must not let our resolve to be weaken with the passage of time," said a student's voice over the intercom. "I was in 4th grade. I just remember seeing the expressions on my teachers' faces," said Smith. "And coming home and watching my mom cry, turning on the TV and seeing the images." Smith was only 9 then, but that memory brought him to help organize the "9/11: Never Forget" Memorial at Milton.

For more than 4 hours the night before until 11 p.m., Smith -- with the help of dozens of others -- created a poignant memorial to each 9/11 victim -- one-by-one. So the students remember, and Smith says, the memorial in front of his school a reminder, "to never forget."

Milton High School was one of more than 180 high school, college, and university campuses, who participated in the "9/11: Never Forget Project."