Beam From 9/11 World Trade Center Arrives in Rockville [VIDEO]
ROCKVILLE - At first glance it may look like an old piece of metal, but it's actually an incredible piece of history that recently made a long journey from New York to Rockville.
It's an I-beam from the 9/11 World Trade Center site.
"If you look at it, it's so twisted and so bent and so raggedy...you feel like you need to touch it. It's very eerie, but it's so honorable," Rosie Steil says.
Steil is the leader of a committee that’s building a veterans monument in town. The six foot long World Trade Center steel beam will become a part of the piece. The beam was recovered from the site after September 11th, 2001 and secured in the JFK Airport until now.
The steel withstood a horrifying attack on U.S. soil that claimed the lives of 2,973 people.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is open to requests from organizations around the world who wish to ask for a piece of the World Trade Center. The only rule is that it needs to be used in a memorial open to the public.
The steel beam and Rockville monument will be dedicated in front of city hall on September 11th this year. The monument will honor all current, past and future military, firefighters, first responders and law enforcement personnel.
Steil says trade center beam will be accompanied by granite benches made from local granite in the monument.
"It just means honor and to thank people for their services, there's so many people out there who just need to be honored: they don't even realize that they're risking their lives everyday."
Brent Anderson with Anderson trucking took part in transporting the beam to Central Minnesota all the way from New York.
"I saw a picture, so I kind of knew what it would look like, but when I walked up to it: I just immediately had this presence of awe."
Donations are still needed to fund the monument, which will cost over $70,000. No city, county or state money will be used to fund the project.
An account has been set up at the Granite Community Bank in Rockville. You can also find more information on their Facebook Page.
Videographer Chrissy Gaetke contributed to this story.
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