Never Forget: Retired New York City firefighter reflects on 9/11 and the American education system

According to the education journal, the Post and Courier, fewer than half of U.S. states have mandatory 9/11 curriculum taught in public schools. But one retired New York City firefighter is trying to change that.

Niels Jorgensen is retired from the New York City Fire Department, but he was there that fateful day when the Twin Towers fell from the sky, killing almost 3,000 people in the process. He helped dig through the debris at ground zero in search of the injured and missing, and now he is on a mission to help save the education system. He is also the host of the “20 for 20” podcast, a show highlighting 20 heroic stories about 9/11 for the 20th anniversary of that horrible day.

Jorgensen told Just the News’ John Solomon that “it’s a sin” that 9/11 is not taught in a lot of schools, even 20 years after the worst terror attack in modern history.

“We need to have this built into the curriculum of education in the United States, which right now is less than 50% of the states are having it in their curriculum,” Jorgensen said.

“We're not teaching history to the young, and we're really a generation away from just slipping away. I have to believe that that's being done by design. There's folks out there who don't want this to be looked at and taught. And some people have said it's offensive. How could 9/11 be offensive? It's offensive to the people who were killed and given illnesses,” he said. 

For more information on Neil Jorgensen’s podcast, please click here.