By Mary Drier
Staff Writer
FRANKENMUTH — It’s been 12 years today since terrorists attacked the United States of America … yet it doesn’t seem like it was that long ago.
The image of the twin towers of the Word Trade Center burning and crashing down from being struck by airplanes will be remembered forever by those who lived during that time.
Although those tragic Sept. 11, 2001, attacks happened in other states, they had a worldwide impact. An area fire department has a memorial to that day which will also “live in infamy” of the attack against the United States.
The city of Frankenmuth received a 10-foot-long, 930-pound piece of twisted metal girder form the World Trade Center two years and turned it into memorial at the Frankenmuth Fire Department at 210 W. Genesee, Frankenmuth.
The 9-11 memorial has a pentagon base. Each of the five sections outlines the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001.
Each panel explains the tragic events of that fateful day. Two sides commemorated the World Trade Center Towers. One section explained: North Tower was hit by American Airlines Flight 11 – and 87 passengers and crew perished. The crash happened at 8:45 a.m. and the tower collapsed at 10:28. Another section explains: the South Tower was hit by United Airlines Flight 175 – and 60 passengers and crew perished. The crash happened at 9:03 a.m. and collapsed 9:59 a.m.
The other two sections explained the other events: the Pentagon was hit by American Airlines Flight 77 – and 59 passengers and crew perished. The crash happened at 9:40 a.m. In Shanksville, P.A., United Airlines Flight 93 with 45 passengers and crew crashed 10:07 a.m.
The fifth panel explained the reason for the memorial: “Steel Artifact – Sept. 11, 2001.
“Let this twisted fragment of the World Trade Towers remind us that we must ever highly honor the brave and heroic public servants who sacrificed their lives on that fateful day, nor forget the innocent civilians whose lives were also brought to such a tragic end – 2,752 victims.”
Mary Drier is a staff writer for the Tuscola County Advertiser. She can be reached at drier@tcadvertiser.com.