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Sunday,
March 13, 2011
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World Trade Center relic to
receive hero's welcome in Westport.
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World Trade Center relic to receive
hero's welcome in Westport. EverythingWestport.com Tuesday, March 08, 2011 photos/EverythingWestport.com WTC
photos/Deputy Chief Allen Manley for EverythingWestport.com View 26 high-resolution photos now | Dial-up speed
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flag-draped, 435 pound steel I-beam was
silently clutched by members of the Westport fire department. Like pall
bearers carrying the casket of a fallen comrade, firefighters took the steel
remnant down from the bed of the green pickup truck, which had transported it
all the way from an airport hangar in New York City, and brought into the
fire station's front foyer to its final resting place.
After a very long moment, Chief Legendre
spoke, bringing everyone back into the moment. "We had an uneventful trip," he
said. At five a.m. on the morning of March 10th,
12 off-duty members of the Westport Fire Department led by Chief Brian
Legendre and Deputy Chief Allen Manley had piled into the Chief's car and the
department's well-used green pickup, and headed out to LaGuardia Airport. 12
firefighters came back 12 hours later, visibly moved by the experience of
retrieving a single six-foot piece of
twisted, burnt and rusted steel that will create an eternal memorial to those
that died in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. "It was an
unbelievable experience," said Lt. Daniel Ledoux.
"We had an opportunity to get a tour of the hanger where all the
artifacts, including the steel, were being stored. They even let us into the
large white canopy tent that isolates the true artifacts, like the fire
engine crushed and burned by the towers' implosion." "We were there
early," Ledoux said. "Because it wasn't
busy at that hour they gave us the tour. Normally, only two persons from the
fire department receiving the steel are allowed inside because of security
reasons. They didn't allow any photos or video." "It was a
spiritual moment," Ledoux said. Making the trip to New
York City were: Fire Chief Brian Legendre, Deputy Chief Allen Manley, Jr.,
Tony Ward, Jamie Ellis, Dan Ledoux, Bob Porawski, Sean Connolly, Jimmy Cawley,
Courtney Andrade, Adam Silva, Justin Ranlino, and
Terry Vaillancourt.
Left: 12 off-duty members of the
Westport Fire Department line up for a photo before heading out to the Big
Apple. Right: Port Authority workers use a fork truck to load the piece
of WTC 9/11 steel onto the WFD's pickup truck for its final journey to
Westport.
Left: WFD members secured the steel
I-beam, and then posed for a picture
before their long trip back home. Right: Deputy Chief Allen Manley ties
down the relic's shroud - an American flag and a Westport Fire Department's
flag. Eighteen months after a formal request was
submitted to the Port Authorities of New York and New Jersey, Fire Chief
Brian Legendre was notified that a 435 pound steel I beam salvaged from the World
Trade Center was available for pickup, and was now cleared to make its way to
the new Westport Fire Station where it will become a permanent memorial to
those killed on September 11, 2001. Distribution of artifacts from the Trade
Center building began recently according to Nancy Johnson, Manager of the WTC
Artifacts Program with a goal of distributing 1000 pieces of steel this year
before the 10th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks. "Deputy Chief
Allen Manley deserves the lion's share of the credit in making this memorial
possible," Chief Legendre said. The department plans
to use the beam in the foyer of the town's new fire station as a memorial to
honor the more than 300 firefighters that were killed on one of America's
darkest days - September 11, 2001. "We've been
trying to get our hands on it for 18 months," said Manley. "I had
no idea what it looked like until this afternoon." "There are lots
of restrictions in how we handle the steel," Chief Legendre said.
"For instance, we can't wash it, paint it, or sell tickets for people to
see it. Pieces of Ground Zero
steel were able to be released to fire departments across the nation by the
New York and New Jersey Port Authorities after the court system determined
the beams were not evidence. "There were 1000
pieces of steel in the hanger," Legendre said. "They have 800
pieces left to distribute before the 10th anniversary of 9/11. They are
releasing 30 pieces on every other Thursday of the month." The Town of Acushnet recently retrieved a
six-foot, 2600 pound of steel in late February. Fire Chief Kevin Gallagher
said "its significance cannot be measured."
The delegation of 12
took the opportunity while in New York City to visit Ground Zero, and were
amazed at what they found. "I can't believe
how far they have come," Ledoux said.
"The new buildings are reaching into the sky, and the area is a beehive
of activity." Westport firefighters
toured the many memorials at Ground Zero to "those who fell and to those
who carry on." September 11, 2001
will never be forgotten if the fire department's across our nation have their
way.
Above: In the twilight of an overcast,
misty evening, six Westport firefighters carried the steel, like pall bearers carrying
the casket of a fallen comrade, from the bed of the green pickup truck which
had transported it all the way from an airport hangar in New York City, and
brought into the fire station's front foyer to its final resting place.
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