World Trade Center steel arrives to southwest Ohio

U.S. Representative Steve Austria, Mayor Joan Dautel, and Col. Amanda Gladney hold a small piece of steel girder from New York's World Trade Center during a cermony March 25, 2011 in Fairborn, Ohio. This piece will be taken to local schools to teach about the events that occurred on 9/11. A larger beam from Ground Zero will become part of a memorial at the Wright State University National Center for Medical Readiness, which trains first responders. Congressman Austria represents Ohio's 7th District, Ms. Dautel is Mayor of Fairborn and Col. Gladney is commander of the 88th Air Base Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. (Skywrighter photo/Niki Jahns)

World Trade Center steel arrives to southwest Ohio

Wright-Patterson AIr Force Base Fire Chief Jacob King speaks during a ceremony March 25, 2011 in Fairborn, Ohio marking the arrival of a large steel beam from New York's World Trade Center. The beam will become part of a memorial at Wright State University's National Center for Medical Readiness, which trains first responders. (Skywrighter photo/Niki Jahns)

World Trade Center steel arrives to southwest Ohio

Airmen from Wright-Patterson AIr Force Base's Airman Leadership School listen during a ceremony March 25, 2011 in Fairborn, Ohio marking the arrival of a large steel beam from New York's World Trade Center. The artifact will become part of a permanent memorial to honor first responders and victims of the 9/11 terrorists attacks. It will be located at the National Center for Medical Readiness, located in Fairborn near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. (Skywrighter photo/Niki Jahns)

World Trade Center steel arrives to southwest Ohio

Led by a procession of Ohio Patriot Guard riders and firefighting equipment from southwest Ohio communities and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, a flatbed trailer containing a large steel beam from New York's World Trade Center arrives to Fairborn, Ohio March 25, 2011. The artifact will become part of a permanent memorial to honor first responders and victims of the 9/11 terrorists attacks. It will be located at the National Center for Medical Readiness, located in Fairborn near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. (Skywrighter photo/Niki Jahns)

World Trade Center steel arrives to southwest Ohio

Chief Master Sgt. Shelina Frey joins Airman from Wright-Patteson Air Force Base listening to the story of the trek of a large steel beam from New York's World Trade Center during a ceremony marking its arrival to Fairborn, Ohio March 25, 2011. The artifact will become part of a permanent memorial to honor first responders and victims of the 9/11 terrorists attacks. It will be located at the National Center for Medical Readiness, located in Fairborn near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Chief Frey is Command Chief for Aeronautical Systems Center and the 88th Air Base Wing. (Skywrighter photo/Niki Jahns)

World Trade Center steel arrives to southwest Ohio

Published March 30, 2011
By Derek Kaufman
88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- Officials held a ceremony in Fairborn, Ohio March 25 to mark the arrival of a 12-foot-long steel beam from the World Trade Center in New York City, which is destined to become a memorial to first responders and victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

U.S. Representative Steve Austria of Ohio's 7th Congressional District joined officials from the city of Fairborn, Wright State University and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base at Fairborn Fire Station 2, which will be the temporary home of the artifact.

"Today we are remembering 9/11 in a different and very special way," Congressman Austria said. The congressman honored the memory of those who died that morning in New York, at the Pentagon and a field in rural Pennsylvania. He noted that several Fairborn firefighters were among those that responded to ground zero after the collapse of the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

At a future date, the steel beam will be permanently displayed at "Calamityville," a simulation, training and research center for first responders. The National Center for Medical Readiness, affiliated with Wright State University, is located at Calamityville, the site of a former cement plant in Fairborn located east of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Area A.

The Calamityville site includes a variety of buildings, silos, elevators and tunnels which can be used to simulate crises ranging from major industrial accidents to plane crashes for firefighters, medical personnel, search and rescue teams, hazardous materials experts and others.

Dr. Mark Gebhart, director of the National Center for Medical Readiness, said he was "pleased and honored" the artifact would find its final home at the place which will train current and future first responders from across the country.

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Fire Chief Jacob King was among the officials who transported the steel artifact from Manhattan aboard a flatbed trailer to southwest Ohio on a trek that included a stop in Shanksville, Penn. where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed after being hijacked on Sept. 11, 2001.

Chief King said he was "privileged and humbled" to have been allowed to make the trip, which also included an emotional meeting with New York City firefighters. He added Wright-Patterson and Fairborn Firefighters and others from neighboring communities frequently train and respond together under mutual aid agreements.

Col. Amanda Gladney, 88th Air Base Wing commander and a flight of Airmen from Wright-Patterson's Airman Leadership School were among those on hand for the artifact's arrival to honor the memory of those who died on 9/11 and the sacrifice of their loved ones.