A 21‑foot, 16,900‑pound steel beam from the World Trade Center’s South Tower landed in Indianapolis last month as the centerpiece of a national tour marking the 25th anniversary of 9/11.
Steel Beam Lands in Indianapolis
The Tunnel to Towers Foundation’s “Steel Across America” tour made its 31st stop at the Indiana War Memorial and Museum on Aug. 19, bringing the beam more than 10,500 miles across 21 states and Washington, D.C., before returning to New York City for a Sept. 11 ceremony.
For the past four months, communities across the country have welcomed this sacred piece of American history with incredible emotion,” Tunnel to Towers Chairman and CEO Frank Siller said in a press release. “Watching people stand in front of that steel, hugging it, praying over it, weeping, reminds me every single day of why we do this work.”
The Indianapolis event featured a color guard, a Pipes and Drums procession, the national anthem performed by the Voices of the Indianapolis Fire Department, and an invocation by Fire Department Chaplain Mike Gatliff.
Fire Division Chief Tom Neal and retired Maj. Gen. Timothy Winslow, executive director of the Indiana War Memorial and Museum, addressed the crowd about the link between first responders, veterans and the 9/11 legacy.
Nine Hoosiers perished on Sept. 11, and six members of Indianapolis Task Force One later died from illnesses tied to the toxic Ground Zero environment, according to the Indiana War Memorial.
Marine Corps veteran and Tunnel to Towers recipient Scott Nokes told attendees that seeing the steel in person creates a connection no book or documentary can match.
Nokes added that more than 1,000 victims’ bodies were never recovered from Ground Zero, and their souls reside in the steel; touching it feels their presence.
The foundation designed the tour to connect younger Americans, many of whom were too young or not yet born during the attacks, with a tangible piece of history.
After Indianapolis, the tour will visit the Cincinnati Fire Museum, then head to West Point, Boston and Washington, D.C., before the steel returns to New York City on Sept. 11. Frank Siller and his family will carry the beam through the Brooklyn‑Battery Tunnel, retracing Stephen Siller’s route 25 years earlier, though the steel will not stop at the World Trade Center site.
Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.
