At Fire Station No. 5 in Crystal City, Virginia, there is a little-known Memorial to the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Station 5 is the nearest county fire station to the Pentagon. On August 29, 2010, the New York City Fire Department presented the Arlington County, Virginia Fire Department with a steel girder from the ruins of the World Trade Center to commemorate the attack on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.
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| The memorial is not marked and only barely noticed passing by on 18th St. A quick stop this morning revealed a steel beam approximately ten feet long with bits of concrete permanently affixed to the numerous bolts protruding from the top. |
On side has the stenciled letters ACFD (Arlington County Fire Department), and FDNY (New York City Fire Department), along with '343' to memorialize the 343 FDNY personnel lost in the attack. The other side is again emblazoned with FDNY and '343'.
One end appears cut while the other bears signs of extreme trauma and distress. The steel is bent and bowed as if blown out with extreme force. I had to wonder where on the WTC this particular beam was affixed, and where it ended up.
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ReplyDeleteI've seen similar steel beams from the World Trade Center at different places. I still can't wrap my head around the force of buildings that tall crashing to the ground and ripping steel a half or three-quarters thick.
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