Smithsonian puts 9/11 artifacts within reach

For Camille Campbell, it wasn’t the pictures of ground zero or the Pentagon or Shanksville, Pa., that put the lump in her throat. It wasn’t the mangled door from a fire truck or the charred remains of a child’s doll.

It was the seatbelt.

“I’m sad,” said Campbell, 27, a pharmacist and Fort Washington, Md., resident, while visiting the Smithsonian’s 9/11 exhibit on Saturday. “I fly a lot for work now, and it’s really close to home to see things like the seat belts, things I see all the time when I get on a plane.”...

Allowing the artifacts from the three sites of the attacks, plus items from the Transportation Security Administration, to be out in the open has created a more intimate experience for attendees, said Cedric Yeh, deputy chair of the Smithsonian Institution’s Division of Military History and Diplomacy....