World Trade Center metal beam arrives at West Point for 9/11 tour

A 21-foot metal beam recovered from the South Tower of the World Trade Center arrived on the U.S. Military Academy at West Point Tuesday, bringing a bodily piece of the Sept. 11 assaults to the establishment that educated generations of Army officers who would go on to serve within the wars that adopted.

The 16,900-pound beam was dropped at West Point as a part of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’s Steel Across America tour, a nationwide commemoration marking the twenty fifth anniversary of the assaults. Tuesday’s ceremony was the tour’s thirty third cease.

West Point Superintendent Lt. Gen. James B. Bartholomees III stated the metal connects the braveness proven by first responders on 9/11 with the Americans who answered the decision to serve within the years that adopted.

“As we approach the 25th anniversary of 9/11, this piece of steel reminds us of the courage of first responders like Stephen Siller and the countless Americans who answered the call in the years that followed, including generations of West Point graduates,” Bartholomees stated. “Today, young men and women continue that legacy of service, guided by duty, honor country.”

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The ceremony introduced collectively cadets, college, workers and friends and opened with a coloration guard and pipe and drum procession by members of the NYPD, FDNY and Port Authority Police Department. The program additionally included the nationwide anthem, an invocation and blessing of the metal, and a second of reflection accompanied by “Amazing Grace.”

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Frank Siller, chairman and CEO of Tunnel to Towers and the brother of fallen FDNY firefighter Stephen Siller, recalled his brother’s closing actions on Sept. 11.

“Twenty-five years ago, my brother Stephen strapped on 60 pounds of gear and ran through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel toward danger, duty and the people who needed him inside those towers,” Siller stated.

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“Duty, honor country: Those values connect West Point cadets, Stephen and first responders all across this country,” he continued. “We are grateful to West Point for welcoming us, and we leave more committed than ever to making sure the sacrifice of September 11 is never forgotten.”

According to Tunnel to Towers, Stephen Siller was off obligation when the assaults started, and he ran via the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel carrying 60 kilos of substances towards the World Trade Center, the place he died whereas responding to the assaults.

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The basis created in his reminiscence offers mortgage-free properties to Gold Star and fallen first responder households with younger kids, builds specifically tailored sensible properties for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders and works to deal with veteran homelessness.

For a few of these gathered across the beam Tuesday, its arrival at West Point carried a private connection between the primary responders who rushed towards the towers and the service members who deployed abroad within the years that adopted.

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Col. Dan Stuewe of the U.S. Army recalled a picture he stated many troopers in his platoon carried with them after 9/11 as they went abroad.

“There was a cartoon character that a lot of the soldiers in my platoon carried with us after 9-11 as we went overseas,” Steuwe stated. “It was one of the firemen handing off the American flag to a service member coming out of the rubble of the towers.”

Stuewe described the picture as one other image of the unity between first responders and repair members “serving something greater than ourselves and protecting this country.”

Kelly Heffner, who’s listed by Tunnel to Towers together with husband Tom Heffner as a supporter and company sponsor, grew to become emotional after approaching the South Tower beam.

“To touch that beam, there’s an energy with it, and it brings you back and it — you know that you can never forget,” Heffner stated.

The artifact’s cease at West Point comes almost 25 years after the assaults despatched a era of American service members to Afghanistan, Iraq and different theaters throughout the battle on terror.

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Bartholomees later joined Siller to obtain a commemorative metal flag on behalf of West Point. The custom-built piece options the New York City skyline and Twin Towers and incorporates World Trade Center metal. According to Tunnel to Towers, the flag is introduced to individuals and establishments which have demonstrated a dedication to the muse’s mission.

After the formal program, attendees had been invited to method the beam and spend time reflecting beside the metal.

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The Steel Across America tour is scheduled to proceed Thursday on the Fallen Heroes Memorial in Boston.