Members of the Acushnet Fire Department travel to a hangar at JFK Airport in New York in 2011 to pick up a steel beam that was recovered from the site of the World Trade Center 9-11 attacks. Photo from Acushnet Fire & EMS Department Facebook page.
By Beth David, Editor
The Acushnet Fire & EMS Department is preparing for the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks with a recollection of the journey of the 9-11 steel beam that is the centerpiece of the town’s 9-11 memorial at Fire Station 1.
On its Facebook page, the department noted that it is also the 10th anniversary of the memorial.
The Department posted pictures of the 2,700-pound steel beam that was recovered from the World Trade Center site as Acushnet fire depart-ment personnel picked it up from a hangar at JFK Airport in New York.
“The trip to a hanger at JFK Airport in New York City where, in February 2011, Chief Gallagher and Firefighters Eric Arruda and Paul Martins brought the steel beam to Acushnet,” reads the Facebook post on 9/7. “The steel beam made a quick stop in Fairhaven where it was transferred, by crane (thanks to Acushnet resident Dennis Hudon), from the bed of the pick-up to a beautiful vehicle owned by New Bedford Firefighter Shawn Foley which is used for firefighter funerals.”
Members of the Acushnet Fire Department travel to a hangar at JFK Airport in New York in 2011 to pick up a steel beam that was recovered from the site of the World Trade Center 9-11 attacks. Photo from Acushnet Fire & EMS Department Facebook page.
The beam was escorted by public safety vehicles to Fire Station #1.
“We were stunned by the number of people who stood on the sidewalks as we drove by and were waiting for us at the station,” the department wrote.
The plaque at the memorial says the beam is a gift to Acushnet from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
“ It forever points in the direction of its former home,” reads the plaque.
The memorial also includes a Pentagon artifact, and a stone from the site of the crash of Flight 93.
The memorial was built with donations, and was dedicated on September 11, 2011.
“Acushnet will always remember,” reads the last line of the plaque.
The town will hold a ceremony commemorating the 9-11 attacks on Saturday, 9/12/21, at 6 p.m. at the memorial, which is located on the grounds of Fire Station 1 at Parting Ways, 24 Russell St., Acushnet, Mass.
The 2,700 pound steel beam that was recovered from the site of the World Trade Center 9-11 attacks is transferred to a special vehicle that is used for firefighter funerals after being picked up from JFK Airport in New York in 2011. Photo from Acushnet Fire & EMS Department Facebook page.
The 2,700 pound steel beam that was recovered from the site of the World Trade Center 9-11 attacks is transferred to a special vehicle that is used for firefighter funerals after being picked up from JFK Airport in New York in 2011. Photo from Acushnet Fire & EMS Department Facebook page.
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