Tenth Anniversary of 9/11 to be Marked By Tunnel to Towers Runs/Walks Across the Country

Nationwide events to honor fallen firefighters, first responders and millions of active military

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y., April 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation has announced that its major annual fundraiser, the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Run, will this year be replicated in hundreds of communities throughout the country on September 11, 2011. In an effort to provide Americans nationwide with an opportunity to personally commemorate the tenth anniversary in their own hometowns, the Foundation has partnered with USA Cares and Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc. to coordinate the nationwide events.

Since 2002, the Tunnel to Towers Run has been held annually to honor the 343 firefighters and first responders who lost their lives on 9/11 and it recreates the final footsteps of firefighter Stephen Siller who was last seen running through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel with sixty pounds of gear strapped to his back en route to the World Trade Center after the attacks. The event, which was originally intended as a way for New Yorkers to honor the fallen heroes, has now become a yearly tribute to everyone who lost their lives that day and transcends the tragedy. Last year, more than 20,000 people attended and took part in the NY event. So far, more than 30 communities have signed up to hold a Tunnel to Towers Run in their own towns, with the goal of one run in 343 different cities across the nation.

"This event began as a way to honor Stephen and his firefighter brothers," said Frank Siller, one of Stephen's siblings and the chairman of the Foundation. "Over the years, through an influx of volunteers, donations and interest, it has continued to grow and evolve. It is now, without question, the one annual event that not only celebrates the lives of everyone who was lost that day, but provides a forum for remembrance of the past and a life-affirming event for the future. We are grateful to have the opportunity to include the entire country in this moving and meaningful event," said Siller.

Each year every branch of the active military is involved in supporting the run as both participants and volunteers. Much of the money raised has gone to support organizations like USA Cares, which provide funds and support for active military who have been severely wounded and family members of the fallen.

"September 11th affected our entire nation, not just New York," said Bill Nelson, executive director of USA Cares. "The nationwide Tunnel to Towers Run/Walks will give communities everywhere the chance to come together and demonstrate that they have not forgotten the sacrifices of that day, or the sacrifice and courage being shown every day in the hills and deserts where our sons and daughters face an unrelenting foe."

Americans across the country are encouraged to organize their own local event and can do so at www.TunneltoTowersRun.org. Organizations wanting to participate as partners are encouraged to sign up as soon as possible as registration ends on June 15, 2011.

World Trade Center Beams Arrive For 9/11 Memorial in Indianapolis

A 60-mile caravan helped bring World Trade Center relics to downtown Indianapolis Saturday afternoon to be used as a centerpiece in a 9/11 memorial.

Escorted by state police and several thousand motorcycle riders, two big steel beams salvaged from the wreckage of the twin towers were later viewed and touched by those who vowed to never forget what happened on September 11, 2001.

MORE PHOTOS FROM ERNIE MILLS

A ceremony was held on the steps of the Indiana War Memorial to mark the arrival of beams. Greg Hess, the Indianapolis firefighter and paramedic who spearheaded the effort to get the relics, called the voyage from New York City to Indianapolis incredibly moving.

"I've cried a couple of times, and that's ok," Hess said. "They're tears from New York, and to bring those pieces of history back, it's been well worth it.

The wreckage that once represented death and destruction will be turned into a memorial next to the downtown canal in the 400 block of West Ohio Street.

It will take $300,000 to fund the project, and you can donate by logging onto www.project911indianapolis.org.

Groundbreaking is scheduled for May with an anticipated completion date of September 11 -- the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Retired Windsor Terrace firefighter George Bachmann pens 9/11 memoir

Retired Windsor Terrace firefighter George Bachmann's memory of 9/11 is more vivid today than it was for years after the terrorist attack.

In his memoir, "Tara's Cross," Bachmann chronicles how he overcame memory loss and healed deep emotional wounds as a survivor who narrowly escaped death at the twin towers.

"There's been a lot of soul-searching," said Bachmann, 59. "I'm not a big hero. I didn't save anyone on 9/11 other than my own life."

Bachmann, who worked at the Liberty St. firehouse across the street from Ground Zero, didn't remember anything about 9/11 because falling debris outside the north tower had trapped him, breaking his back and cracking his skull.

BY MIKE MCLAUGHLIN

DAILY NEWS WRITER

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

ROCKFORD — Tom Longo was still in bed on his 21st birthday — Sept. 11, 2001 — when his wife quickly awakened him from his sleep and turned his attention to the television.

He watched in astonishment as terrorist hijackers flew airplanes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

“When she woke me up, I thought it was a movie she was showing me,” Longo said. “I could not believe it was happening. … I sat there kind of watching it, not saying anything.”

Longo, along with his wife, Jennifer, and two sons, Tommy, 10, and Drake, 4, came downtown Saturday afternoon for a special ceremony unveiling two pieces of steel from the World Trade Center.

The steel will be a part of the Winnebago County 9/11 Emergency Responders Memorial, which will be constructed near the county’s Criminal Justice Center on West State Street.

“This symbol means sacrifice, what a firefighter, a police officer an EMT would do to try to save somebody else,” said Rockford Fire Department Lt. Will Pederson, chairman of the memorial committee. “Emergency responders are willing to step up and do things that others won’t.”

Pederson, along with fire Lt. Kyle Hill, went to New York City to pick up the steel.

“I am just overwhelmed with how this whole thing has come together,” Pederson said. “This is a part of New York City coming here, and we are going to take care of it.”

The memorial will have sculptures of a firefighter, police officer and an EMT overlooking the steel beams, each about 7 feet long and about 1,000 pounds, Pederson said. It also will feature two 20-foot towers that will stand atop granite, representing the Pentagon. Forty trees will be planted, representing each passenger on United Flight 93 that crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.

Heather Weiss of Rockford helped escort the steel downtown Saturday with her husband’s motorcycle group. Fire and police agencies from throughout the county also helped lead a procession from the Clock Tower to the MetroCentre.

“I think this is awesome,” she said. “It brought back so many emotions for me from when it happened. It was really cool to be able to escort it down here.”

The memorial committee is working to raise $911,000 by the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, Pederson said. More information about the memorial and ways to donate can be found at
winnebago911memorial.org.

Reach staff writer Matt Williams at mwilliams@rrstar.com or 815-987-1389.

Copyright 2011 Rockford Register Star. Some rights reserved

Chatham County welcomes World Trade Center wreckage

Pittsboro, N.C. — A piece of wreckage from the World Trade Center displayed in Chatham County Saturday will become the centerpiece of a memorial to the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The 19-foot-long beam was displayed on the 9-11 Memorial Tribute Trail through the county, escorted by firefighters, law enforcement, EMS workers and forestry agents. It made stops in Pittsboro, Goldston and Siler City.

"The intent of the memorial is to honor the many heroes of 9-11, including firefighters, rescue teams and law enforcement officers," County Commissioner Pam Stewart said.

Fire Marshal Thomas Bender said the county requested a piece of the World Trade Center some time ago and only recently found out it would receive one.

Goldston firefighter Jody Allen volunteered to take his personal diesel truck and trailer up to get the beam at the Port Authority in New York City Thursday. The Lowe's Home Improvement store in Pittsboro donated two large American flags to drape the truck and beam. Slideshow World Trade Center beam comes to Chatham County

"After the Tribute Trail, our next steps are more challenging," said Don Lein, president of the Chatham Parks Foundation.

The beam from the World Trade Center will become the centerpiece of a memorial in Chatham County to the emergency responders and others who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001.

"The 9-11 attacks claimed the lives of 2,977 victims, including 411 emergency workers. It changed our nation and each of us individually," Stewart said.

A five-member planning committee is selecting a location and fund-raising for the memorial.

"We want it to the be the type of memorial that encourages people to honor and reflect on the lives lost and their own personal connection to the lives lost and their own personal connection to the 9-11 tragedy," Lein said.

The county hopes to have the memorial open this fall in time for the 10th anniversary of the attacks.

"This is a huge project that will require a lot of work from many people in Chatham County," Stewart said. "But I have faith that by working together, we can get this done, so we have a memorial that will be a source of pride throughout the region, not just Chatham County."

Anyone who wishes to donate or volunteer to help build the 9-11 Memorial can call Don Lein, with the Chatham Parks Foundation, at 919-542-4790.

'The Empty Sky' 9/11 memorial in Jersey City will be ready by 10th anniversary

Officials said the "Empty Sky" 9/11 Memorial at Liberty State Park in Jersey City may be completed and open by the 10th anniversary of the attacks, The Jersey Journal reports.

The memorial will consist of two steel-plated walls that form a walkway to the Hudson River that will give visitors the feeling of walking between the World Trade Center towers.

The names of 9/11 victims will be engraved on the steel interior of the memorial.

Some, however, have slammed the planned memorial for obstructing views of the Manhattan skyline.

Do you think the Empty Sky memorial being built in Liberty State Park will be a fitting tribute to those who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11? Vote in our Daily Poll.

Full story from The Jersey Journal:
'EMPTY SKY' PROMISE: 9/11 memorial will be ready for anniversary

Related coverage from The Jersey Journal:
Fundraiser for 9/11 memorial set for May

58 storeys and counting... 'Freedom Tower' rises above Ground Zero to take its place on the New York skyline

: Its steel frame, already clad in glass on lower floors, now stands 58 stories tall and is starting to inch above many of the skyscrapers that ring the site

On top of the world: Ironworkers align steel columns high in the sky

The black-granite fountains and reflecting pools that mark the footprints of the fallen twin towers are almost finished.

The memorial plaza won't be complete when it opens on Sept. 11, 2011, and a tour of the site last week makes clear that work around it will continue for years.

More...

• Mutilated body of 400lb man found inside duffel bag in blood-soaked apartment

Mud is still plentiful at ground level, and for now the site is dominated by the same concrete-grey shades that blanketed lower Manhattan after the 9/11 attacks.

But the agency that owned the trade center and has spent nearly a decade rebuilding it is aiming to deliver a memorial experience on 9/11/11 that closes one chapter and ushers in a new experience, where ground zero again becomes part of the city's everyday fabric.

'We want people to be able to see that downtown does have this incredible future to it,' said Chris Ward, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. 'The work will not be done on that day. What we hope will be done is the sense of frustration.'

For now, the complexity and scale of the construction is evident in every corner.

Workers labor around the clock. During the busiest shifts, around 2,800 people — mostly men — labour amid tangles and ravines of steel. In one steel cavern that will become a transit hub concourse, showers of orange sparks fly as welders install trusses weighing up to 50 tons.

From the top of One World Trade, the view is spectacular, as it was from the twin towers, even though the building stands at 680 feet, less than halfway to its planned 1,776-foot height.

Visitors to the upper floors can see the grand sweep of the Hudson River and New York Harbor, dotted with container ships, all the way to Sandy Hook at the northern tip of the Jersey Shore. People at ground level can now see the tower, too, from a growing number of places in the city and across the river in New Jersey.

A huge portion of the reconstruction of the trade center is taking place below ground. The underground halls that house the memorial are cavernous, and in their unfinished state look like some unexplored temple in an Indiana Jones movie.

The huge boxes that hold the waterfall pits visible from the surface are somehow suspended from the ceiling, held up by pillars that don't seem big enough to support the blocks' massive weight.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1368388/A-decade-9-11-Freedom-Tower-rises-ashes-Ground-Zero-tenth-anniversary-New-York-attack.html#ixzz1HIcdC6AR