FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (May 31, 2012) -- A piece of recent and profound American history has found a new home, encased in somber granite in front of Fire Station One, Headquarters for the Fort Campbell Fire Department.
Honoring the first responders of Sept. 11, 2001, a monument featuring a piece of I-beam from the South Tower of the World Trade Center was unveiled May 24 during a small presentation ceremony.
"It is truly an honor to stand before you this afternoon to dedicate this 9/11 memorial monument to the happenings that fateful day of Sept. 11, 2001," said Kevin Baylor, chief of Fort Campbell Fire and Emergency Services, during the ceremony's opening speech.
Baylor shared the story of how the monument came to be, beginning with FCFD Fire Inspector David Land reading an article about WTC artifacts being released to fire departments across the country. An official request was submitted to Don Addy, president of the National Homeland Defense Foundation in August 2010.
"On Jan. 7, 2011, we were then notified by Addy, confirming that National Homeland Defense Foundation would donate a steel artifact from the World Trade Center to Fort Campbell for the purpose of erecting a memorial to the victims of 9/11," said Baylor.
By the time the monument was built, the 10th anniversary of the attacks had come and gone. It was decided that the unveiling would take place prior to Memorial Day weekend, to honor those lost on 9/11 as well as the fallen Soldiers who have since made the ultimate sacrifice in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.
Colonel Timothy P. Sullivan, deputy commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, served as the guest speaker for the event. A native New Yorker, Sullivan's personal Family ties to 9/11 painted a picture of bravery and courage.
Knowing his brother worked in one of the twin towers, Sullivan called his Family after the first plane struck. The second had struck by the time his father answered the phone. It was then Sullivan found out that his sister-in-law was at a business conference at the World Trade Center, and his mother had boarded a plane leaving New York City at 8:40 a.m.
His brother, Tom, who worked in the South Tower, helped to evacuate 17 co-workers on his floor, mere minutes before the building's collapse. His brother, Brian, a Port Authority police officer, reported to Ground Zero the following day, working six days a week for six months to recover victims' remains.
"Growing up in New York, the World Trade Center served as a geographical reference point," said Sullivan. "Now the towers have been reduced to scrap remnants, but I'd offer those remnants should serve all Americans as an emotional reference point."
Sullivan said the Fort Campbell monument should serve as a reference point, and a reminder of the acts of a nation that rallied and rebounded in the face of terror.
"This monument can be added as a piece of sacred ground," said Sullivan, "and is worth coming down to see…where our very own first responders come each day, waiting to put their training to use, but glad when a shift ends; knowing that a boring day for them is a great day for everyone else."
Following his speech, the monument was officially unveiled by Baylor and Col. Perry C. Clark, Fort Campbell Garrison Commander. The I-beam section is supported by two towers of granite which came from a quarry in Pa., less than 200 miles from the crash site of Flight 93. The beam and columns sit on a granite base, used to symbolize a solid foundation on which Americans now stand.
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Fort Campbell Fire Department unveils 9/11 monument at station HQ
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