First responders honor World Trade Center beam arriving at Boston fallen heroes memorial
A preserved steel beam recovered from the ruins of the World Trade Center made a stop in Boston on Wednesday as part of a nationwide tour organized by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, with the journey timed to conclude near the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The 21-foot, 16,900-pound beam, once part of the South Tower, was displayed at the Massachusetts Fallen Heroes Memorial in the city's Seaport district. It has been traveling across the country since May, with previous stops including the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Monday and an evening appearance at Fenway Park on Wednesday. The tour is scheduled to visit the White House on September 8 before finishing in New York City shortly after the anniversary.
The Tunnel to Towers Foundation, named for Stephen Siller, a New York City firefighter who died on 9/11 after running through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to reach the towers, supports families of first responders and military members who have lost their lives in the line of duty. The organization helps 9/11 families, first responders and veterans rebuild their lives, with funding raised in part through charity runs held in cities across the country.
At the Boston event, first responders, law enforcement officers and members of the public gathered around the beam, with guests invited to approach and pay their respects. For Dan Magoon, executive director of Massachusetts Fallen Heroes, the visit carried deep significance. "For us as first responders and veterans, what this means as we come up on the 25th anniversary is personal," he said. "It's all about educating the next generation and not forgetting the sacrifices, not only made on 9/11 but what we've endured in the 20 years after in all theaters of combat."
Among those in attendance was Mike Eruzione, the captain of the 1980 U.S. Winter Olympics hockey team whose victory over the Soviet Union became known as the "Miracle on Ice." Eruzione said the foundation's work struck a chord with him personally, noting that friends of his had been passengers on one of the hijacked planes involved in the attacks. Speaking about Tunnel to Towers, he said, "It touched the heart of our country. It touched the souls of our country."
Daniel McCarthy, a Bostonian whose parents are from New York, was among those who came to see the beam up close. "It's just crazy to think about where it once stood, the people that worked inside the buildings, the people that rushed inside to save those people and what happened when it all came down," he said.
The Steel Across America tour is intended to bring a tangible piece of the World Trade Center to communities far from New York, allowing people who have never visited the memorial in lower Manhattan to encounter the history directly. Organizers said the journey is meant as both a tribute to those lost and a reminder to younger generations of the day's significance.
After its Boston stop, the beam will continue toward Washington, D.C., and ultimately New York, where the tour will conclude in the days surrounding the September 11 anniversary.