9/11 Memorial featuring steel beam from WTC needs public support

A 206-pound piece of steel is part of a beam that once held up one of the Twin Towers.

Rescue teams salvaged it from the crumbled skeleton of the World Trade Center.

“It’s amazing how fast time has gone by and where we’ve come as a nation,” said Palm Springs firefighter Matt Kearney, who is a member of the Palm Springs Firemen’s Association.

The steel beam, a token of one of our nation’s greatest tragedies, now belongs to the association, which acquired the piece in 2012.

For the last two years the group has been carefully planning to use it as the anchor of a 9/11 memorial at Palm Springs Fire Station #2.

“It feels like we’re give back, giving back to that day to remember those who lost their lives,” Kearney said.

The plan renderings for the memorial include a statue of firefighters carrying a fallen hero and a dedication to the Palm Springs K-9, Bautz, who assisted the rescue teams in New York City along with a Palm Springs Fire Captain.

“Kids that weren’t born then are getting to the age where they don’t understand it so it gives us the opportunity to teach them,” Kearney said.

But for the memorial to finally be built, the Palm Springs Firemen’s Association says it need the public’s support, and that includes donations.

To get the project going will cost $20,000, so the owners of New York Company Restaurant stepped in and hosted a fundraiser to give back to the heroes who serve us everyday.

Those who run toward danger to keep us all out of harm’s way.

“It’s something we should never forget, another attack can happen any moment,” said Neil Castren, co-owner of New York Company Restaurant.

“You can feel the sorrow, you can feel the pain. And you can just feel because those guys basically knew what they were going into,” said Wally D’Agostino, co-owner of the New York Company Restaurant.