9/11 Museum unveils new display on hunt for Osama bin Laden

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York unveiled this week a new display devoted to the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

The unveiling of the exhibit, which features U.S. Navy SEAL artifacts and objects from the 2011 raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan, coincides with the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on Thursday.

Museum officials said that the new display is intended to give visitors an opportunity to appreciate the years-long effort by the CIA in hunting down Bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda, which claimed responsibility for the 2001 terror attacks.

The exhibit will allow “millions of visitors the chance to recognize the extraordinary bravery of the men and women who sacrifice so much for this country at home and abroad,” 9/11 Memorial President Joe Daniels said in a release.

Among the objects on display are a brick from the Abbottabad compound where Bin Laden was hiding and eventually killed by members of the Navy SEAL Team 6 during a late-night raid in 2011. There is also a so-called challenge coin donated by the CIA operative commonly known as Maya, who is credited with having discovered Bin Laden’s secret hideaway.

The coin was created to commemorate the May 1, 2011, raid. In the movie “Zero Dark Thirty,” which dramatized the arduous search for Bin Laden, Maya was played by actress Jessica Chastain.

Also on display is a uniform shirt worn by one of the Navy SEAL Team 6 members who participated in the raid. U.S. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-New York) secured the donation of the shirt, according to the museum.

“I hope it will serve as a tangible reminder to all those who visit the Museum of the undaunted courage and steely resolve of the American men and women, who risk their lives -- to keep our country safe from harm,” Maloney said in a statement.

The exhibit, which went on view Sunday, is located in the museum’s Foundation Hall. The 9/11 Museum officially opened to the public in May, though the memorial portion of the site has been open for a few years.

Twitter: @DavidNgLAT