Kids told to stop singing National Anthem at 9/11 Memorial 

NEW YORK CITY (KUSI) — Their job is to provide security at the 9/11 Memorial in New York City, but two guards at the National Memorial may have been a bit tone deaf when they ordered a children’s choir to stop singing the "Star Spangled Banner."

The children from a small town in North Carolina were on a whirlwind tour of New York City.

The kids were so touched by Ground Zero, they asked to honor the site the best way they knew how.

"Singing was their way of paying respect," said Martha Weathers Brown, the choir director. "They were doing it very reverently."

It seemed like a fitting thing to do there, but a security guard ordered them to stop mid-song.

The students were told they did not have a permit to sing and would have to stop.

Brown said she had asked another security guard before the sixth, seventh and eighth grader choir singers began.

She was told it was okay, but clearly it wasn’t.

"We totally understand why. That’s a burial ground. It’s a sacred space. They have that rule in place so that people can’t do disrespectful things there," Brown said.

After seeing the Statue of Liberty and getting off of the Staten Island Ferry, the 9/11 Memorial was one of the first stops in New York City for the choir singers.

Their teacher said the experience did not ruin their memorable weekend.

Instead, she used the moment as a teaching one.

The choir members now have an offer to return. They have been invited back to the 9/11 Memorial to sing once again.