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Parents explain the significance of 9/11 17 years later

Explaining the significance of a national tragedy -- seventeen years after the fact -- is a challenge for parents who barely recall what happened on September 11, 2001.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- One of the biggest days in American history is December 7, 1941, the day the Japanese attacked the U.S. at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

September 11, 2001 is another that will go down as a "day which will live in infamy," as so aptly stated by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

But for children who were very young or not yet born at the time of the most egregious terrorist attack on American soil, 9/11 is just another historical day on the late-summer calendar. A day traditionally marked with solemn commemorations and community member service projects.

And so, each September 11, many parents struggle to convey the significance of the day to a group that can only give passing recognition of it's importance.

For the past 15 years in Tempe, nearly 3,000 meticulously placed American flags have created a patchwork of much-deserved patriotism and honor.

The Healing Field, as it is called, has also become a pathway for younger observers to learn from parents, grand-parents and caregivers. By visiting the tribute, they learn the meaning of 9/11 and the sacrifices made by those whose lives were so tragically lost that day.

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