World Trade Center steel stops at West Point during 25th anniversary tour
Tunnel to Towers is carrying the 16,900-pound beam more than 10,500 miles across the country to honor the victims of 9/11 and ensure a new generation never forgets.
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A nearly 17,000-pound piece of steel recovered from the South Tower of the World Trade Center made a special stop at West Point Tuesday as part of a nationwide journey marking 25 years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The 21-foot, 9-inch beam is traveling more than 10,500 miles through 21 states as part of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’s “Steel Across America” tour.
West Point was the tour’s 33rd stop.
Tunnel to Towers Chairman and CEO Frank Siller said bringing the steel to the U.S. Military Academy was particularly meaningful as the foundation works to preserve the memory of those killed on 9/11 for generations too young to remember the attacks.
“One of the first things we committed to and promised, and we promise to do forever, is to honor the sacrifice, but to never forget,” Siller said. “And this is the way you never forget: by bringing things like this around the country.”to never forget,” Siller said. “And this is the way you never forget by bringing things like this around the country.”
The mission is deeply personal for Siller.
His brother, FDNY firefighter Stephen Siller, was 34 when he was killed responding to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Siller said his brother’s remains were never recovered.
“Being here today, I can’t tell you the emotions when we just opened it up,” Siller said of seeing the beam at West Point. “I was overcome with emotion because 25 years ago my brother gave his life and his body was never recovered.”
Among those attending Tuesday’s event was 84-year-old retired Army Col. Bruce Crandall, one of 65 living Medal of Honor recipients.
Crandall served for 30 years in the Army and was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Ia Drang in Vietnam in November 1965. The battle was later portrayed in the film “We Were Soldiers.”
Crandall said 9/11 also carries a deeply personal connection for him. He said one of his former classmates, Rick Rescorla, was working as Morgan Stanley’s director of security at the World Trade Center when the attacks occurred. Rescorla is credited with helping evacuate roughly 2,700 people from the South Tower before returning inside to help others. He was killed when the tower collapsed.
“This is very special to me,” Crandall said. “One of my classmates was in the South Tower on 9/11.”
Crandall also reflected on the soldiers he served alongside during the Battle of Ia Drang.
“I’m very honored to represent all the soldiers in that battle,” Crandall said. “We lost 79 American soldiers killed and 121 wounded.”
Tunnel to Towers said the Steel Across America tour will next make stops in Boston and Washington, D.C., before returning to New York on Sept. 11.
Siller and his family are expected to retrace the route his brother took through what was then the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel on the morning of the attacks while carrying his firefighting gear on his way to the World Trade Center.
