Pieces of steel are being made available to fire and police departments across the nation.
Pieces of steel and other artifacts were removed from the World Trade Center site in the weeks after the 9/11 attacks and transported to an 80,000-square-foot hangar at JFK Airport, where they have been painstakingly presreved for the last eight years. A piece of American history – steel from the collapse of the World Trade Center – is headed to Western Massachusetts.
The town of Ludlow plans to use the steel to create a memorial to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 with hopes it can be established in time to mark next year’s 10th anniversary. A national memorial to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks is being built on the trade center site in New York City and is due to open for the anniversary.
Ludlow Fire Chief Mark Babineau received approval from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for a piece of steel for his community; the steel, now being stored in a hangar at John F. Kennedy International Airport, is being made available to fire and police departments across the nation.
“This was certainly our generation’s Pearl Harbor, a watershed day in our history and the deadliest day in the fire service in this country,” said Babineau about why he and his department decided to seek approval for the project.
Ludlow, which in May buried its first soldier killed in action in more than 40 years, Marine Corps Sgt. Joshua Desforges, is a “very patriotic community,” said Babineau.
“A week after (Sept. 11, 200l), we had a ceremony in Whitney Street Park that drew more than a thousand people,” he recalled. “Certainly the shock of that day has worn off, but a phrase emerged, ‘Never forget,’ and this (memorial) will be a constant reminder. I believe (the terrorist attacks) led us into two wars, Iraq and Afghanistan, and if it had not, Sgt. Desforges might still be with us. It’s important to remember.”
Ludlow native Nicholas Humber, 60, who was a graduate of Ludlow High School and lived in Newton, was among the victims at the world trade center on Sept. 11. The director of commercial sales for a California-based corporation, he was traveling on business and was aboard American Airlines Flight 11, the first of two jetliners which were crashed into the twin towers.
Coleman said the authority is also offering the steel to municipalities and other non-profit organizations for use in memorials to the victims of the trade center terrorist attack. Coleman said more than 1,000 requests have been received for the steel and are being processed as they arrive.
He said he did not know whether any other requests for the steel have been received from Western Massachusetts communities. More than 20 victims of the 2001 attacks had ties to area cities and towns.
Coleman said the pieces of steel from the World Trade Center vary from small to large, with larger pieces weighing many tons.
Cleanup and recovery workers look on as an excavator removes debris at the site of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks in New York, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2002. There is no cost for the steel itself, but communities must pay for the cost of transporting the steel from the JFK hangar to their cities and towns.
Babineau does not know yet what size piece of steel the Ludlow Fire Department will receive or when. Donations are already being received to help with the costs.
Edward Mazur, chairman of the town’s Board of Assessors and owner of the Kapinos-Mazur Funeral Home, said he always donates his $3,000 stipend for serving as an assessor to a town cause.
This year he’s decided to give $2,000 to the Fire Department to help pay for the cost of transporting the steel to Ludlow. The balance of the stipend will be given to the annual Celebrate Ludlow event, Mazur said.
Ludlow is a very patriotic community, Mazur said, and he’s pleased to see a 9/11 memorial constructed.
Mazur said there is a monument dedicated to deceased Ludlow firefighters on the Fire Department grounds, and that monument could be redesigned to honor 9/11 victims as well.
The monument to the Ludlow firefighters is too close to traffic and needs to be relocated to a more suitable location on the Fire Department grounds, Mazur said.
Cynthia Simison, managing editor of The Republican, contributed to this report.