A piece of the World Trade Center has a new home at a DeKalb County memorial site.
In January, DeKalb firefighter Doug Harms realized the community needed to do something to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Harms contacted the fire commissioner's office in New York and requested a piece of the World Trade Center towers that were destroyed in the attack. His request was approved.
Harms and three other firefighters traveled to New York in a pickup truck to retrieve a 180 pound I-beam that will sit in front of DeKalb firefighter and police headquarters.
The steel will not be polished or altered, so people can see an authentic part of the Sept. 11 attacks. It will be incorporated into a sculpture honoring emergency personnel who were killed.
Harms was inspired to “ensure the legacy of first responders and civilians [who] perished during the terrorist attacks,” said a press release from DeKalb County.
“Obviously, being a firefighter if I was up there, I would have been just like those guys,” he said. “It is important for us to keep their memories alive.”
The 2,200-square-foot monument will be unveiled at the commemoration, to be held Sept. 11. It will honor 343 New York firefighters and 60 New York and Port Authority police officers who lost their lives, as well as all the citizens affected by the attacks, said the press release.
The center sculpture is being created by a local sculptor, Curtis James Miller, a former Marine Corps sergeant who did two tours of duty in Iraq, Harms said.
“Through a lot of efforts of firefighters reaching out, that connection [with Miller] was made,” said Mekka Parish, spokeswoman for DeKalb County.
The sculpture will be a large eagle wing coming out of the ground with the World Trade Center steel positioned in front of it. The wing will reach 10 feet high and be situated on a pentagon base. The monument will also have educational information about each of the four airliners hijacked in the Sept. 11 attacks.
The project is funded through donations by local citizens and businesses. About $2,000 has been raised so far; the goal is $20,000.
The steel was donated by Steel LLC in Scottdale, and the Savannah College of Art and Design donated construction space, but community support is needed to help complete the project. For example, granite and concrete are needed to build the base of the structure.
To make a tax-deductible donation email dekalb911memorial@gmail.com or visit dekalb911memorial.wordpress.com.
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