Gary Sinise has stepped forward as a leading voice in a national push to preserve 9/11 history for Americans born after the attacks.
The “Forrest Gump” star, 71, is combining documentary work, educational travel programs and direct public appeals to keep the memory alive as the 25th anniversary approaches. His efforts arrive amid growing concern that an entire generation now views September 11 as distant history rather than lived experience.
Beth Hillman, President & CEO of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, has quantified that worry. “There are 100 million Americans alive today who are too young to remember 9/11, and that’s why our educational programming is so vital,” she said.
Sinise himself frames the mission as a transfer of witness. “It’s not just about how America was attacked but remembering how Americans answered,” he told The Post. “We want to change the slogan ‘Never forget’ that was made by people who were there to witness the Trade Center tragedies to ‘We remember,’ for future generations who weren’t there and only know it as a story someone told them.”
The actor’s foundation, launched in 2011, already bankrolls free trips for students and families to Ground Zero, the Pentagon and the Shanksville, Pennsylvania crash site. He has now added a documentary credit to that portfolio.
“The Heroism and Resiliency of 9/11: From Tragedy to Triumph,” produced and directed by Michael Gier, features Sinise’s narration and premieres Sept. 8 at AMC Empire 25 in Times Square. Executive producer Chris Meek also leads SoldierStrong and the 9/11 Legacy Foundation, which has built a national educational curriculum for students across age groups.
On social media, Sinise has issued a direct invitation to survivors and witnesses. “The memories you share today can help future generations understand what 9/11 meant to our country and why we made a promise to never forget,” he wrote in a recent post asking those who lived through the tragedy to share personal stories.
The Staten Island corridor has produced its own educational response. The College of Staten Island, Tunnel to Towers and the Carl V. Bini Memorial Fund are jointly developing a video-based curriculum about the attacks, in partnership with SILive.com. The curriculum will be offered at the college, with videos appearing on the local news site.
Massimo DiDonna, founder and president of the Carl V. Bini Memorial Fund, traced the urgency to anniversary math. “As the 25th year approaches of Sept. 11, we see time has passed and like we’ve seen with other tragedies and other things that have happened in our country’s history, people started to forget,” he said to SILive.com. “The one thing that’s different on Sept. 11, in my opinion and in most people’s reality, is the fact there is no real curriculum and there is no real story.”
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin recently secured $1 million in city funding for free school field trips to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. “As we approach the 25th anniversary of September 11, it is more important than ever that a new generation of New Yorkers understands what happened that day and carries forward the stories of those we lost,” Menin said.
Sinise described the documentary as something that will “live on and on and be part of the canon” around the Trade Center tragedy.
The coordinated push spans nonprofit foundations, city government, higher education and entertainment — all confronting the same demographic shift. Where survivors once bore witness directly, institutions now shoulder the task of transmission.
“The Heroism and Resiliency of 9/11: From Tragedy to Triumph” premieres Sept. 8 at AMC Empire 25 in Times Square.