The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum is marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks with events spanning two continents.
Kari Watkins, the museum's president and CEO, travels to New York on Sept. 11 to join leaders from memorial sites in Oslo, Paris and Spain for commemoration services. Lena Fahre, director of the 22 July Centre in Oslo, Norway, is joining her.
The bond runs deep. Six Oklahomans were killed on Sept. 11, 2001, three at the World Trade Center and three at the Pentagon, according to the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. Nine New York City first responders who traveled to Oklahoma City after the 1995 Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing were later killed in the 9/11 attacks, KFOR reported.
"New York City stood with us in our darkest hour, and we stood with them, and we continue to stand with them," Watkins said.
Those shared losses built a partnership that now stretches across oceans. The Oslo center memorializes two attacks on July 22, 2011, when a car bomb at a government building killed eight people and a shooting at a youth camp killed 69 more. Watkins traveled to Oslo in July to help guide the opening of the city's new memorial museum. Fahre said the Oklahoma City and 9/11 memorial museums helped inspire Oslo's effort.
Documentary, reprinted ad and exhibit
The museum plans to release a documentary on Sept. 11, highlighting the partnership among five memorial museums in Oklahoma City, New York City, Paris, Spain and Oslo, according to KOCO 5.
The museum is also reprinting a New York Times ad it first ran in 2001 on the first day the paper published after the attacks. The reprinted version will appear in the New York Times, Washington Post and Pittsburgh newspapers.
An exhibit running through September explores the bond between Oklahoma City and New York City. The museum, at 620 N. Harvey Ave., is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
UCO hosts stair run and flag ceremony in Edmond
The University of Central Oklahoma is inviting the Edmond and Oklahoma City communities to a series of events on Sept. 11. UCO's Army ROTC Broncho Battalion will hold its annual 9/11 Stair Run at 7 a.m. at Chad Richison Stadium, followed by a flag-planting ceremony and reflection walk at 9 a.m. at the Clock Tower near Broncho Lake. About 3,000 American flags will be planted around the lake.
Lt. Col. Andrew Anderson, chair and professor of military science at UCO, said he hopes the stair run helps participants reflect on what first responders endured that day.
UCO will also deliver meals to six Edmond fire stations on Sept. 11, in honor of first responders.
Upcoming events
- Friday, Sept. 11 — Documentary release and 9/11 commemoration events at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum; UCO stair run and flag ceremony in Edmond
- Through September — Exhibit on the OKC-NYC bond at the memorial museum, 620 N. Harvey Ave.
- Wednesday, Sept. 16 — "25 Years After 9/11: The FBI & Where We Are Today," a ticketed event at the memorial museum
- Thursday, Sept. 17 — Rescue Dogs Demonstration at the memorial museum
