9/11 Memorial - Gilbert, AZ
Posted by: 
dkestrel
N 33° 19.907 W 111° 47.305
12S E 426625 N 3688346
On September 11, 2011 a special ceremony commemorating the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 2001 on New York City and Washington DC took place in Gilbert, AZ.
Waymark Code: WMK3FZ
Location: Arizona, United States
Date Posted: 02/07/2014
Views: 11
An actual piece of the World Trade Center was incorporated into a permanent memorial and unveiled at that ceremony.
The 8-foot steel girder beam from the North Tower of the World Trade Center was driven to Gilbert and through the town. The beam is displayed encouraging everyone to touch it. The names of the people who lost their lives in the attack are etched into granite walls around the memorial.
Money for the memorial was generated by public donations. In addition to making general donations, the public was permitted to purchase memorial bricks pavers. In addition, they could sponsor trees of life or one of four benches, one representing each flight. Those pavers, trees and the four benches will all be incorporated in the pentagon-shaped memorial with the beam as its centerpiece.
The design is such that people, even small children, can actually touch the beam.
While the beam is up and available for viewing, the memorial will be complete formally opened in a public ceremony on the 10th anniversary of the terror attacks that killed 3,000 people and changed our lives forever.
Text on the plaque reads:
Our 9/11 memorial is built around a steel beam from a World Trade Center Tower destroyed by terrorists on September 11, 2001. It was given to the town of Gilbert by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on March 25, 2011. The beam was transported across the United States to Gilbert, by the Town Manager Collin DeWitt and Fire Chief Jim Jobusch to await the construction of its final resting place here in Arizona.
This memorial was dedicated on September 11, 2011 for the tenth anniversary of the terrorist destruction of the World Trade Center Towers, Pentagon, Flights 11, 175, 77, the heroically aborted crash of Flight 93, and the almost 3,000 lost lives. The memorial gives all a place to pause, touch, and remember; a place to feel united again and thankful for our fragile liberty.
With Special Thanks to Our 9/11 Memorial Committee
Disaster Date: 09/11/2001
Date of dedication: 09/11/2011
Memorial Sponsors: City of Gilbert
Parking Coordinates: N 33° 19.893 W 111° 47.272
Disaster Type: Sociological
Relevant Website: [Web Link]
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