Downstairs in Gallery 5 of the Tribute WTC Visitor Center sits a table scattered with blank cards on which visitors can share their 9/11 stories. To date, more than 235,000 people have used the cards to express themselves through words and art — with the resulting collection representing some 130 countries and 47 languages.
It was the global nature of this outpouring that inspired the new book, “9/11: The World Speaks,” an anthology of some of the most inspiring messages left on that table. “Our mission at Tribute is simple — giving a voice to those folks who don’t have a voice anymore,” says board president Lee Ielpi, who lost his son Jonathan, a firefighter, on 9/11.
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Today, visitors to 120 Liberty St. still fill out those cards, and Tribute hopes that the initiative will continue to enlighten younger generations. “The world speaks in the tribute cards,” says Ielpi, a retired firefighter. “We must find a way to live with each other, regardless of our differences.”
Here is a sampling of those voices (Click the “Photos” tab on the left).