Joint Base Mcguire-Dix-Lakehurst -- Seven years of hard work paid off with the commemoration and dedication of the mangled steel beams of the World Trade Center displayed at the new 9/11 memorial at Fire Station 4 on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., on Sept. 12, 2016.
U.S. Navy Captain Chris Bergen, Naval Support Activity-Lakehurst commander and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst deputy commander, opened the ceremony.
“As I watched the attacks unfold while on-board the USS John F. Kennedy, I realized my youthful days were gone and I would be going to war,” said Bergen. “This memorial commemorates that uncommon valor that we bore witness to on that awful day 15 years ago.”
The steel beams were shipped from New York to Fort Dix in 2009 when plans for the memorial were originally drafted. Somehow, the project lost its footing and the steel beams sat in a warehouse collecting dust in a tarp on the floor for years. Col. Cynthia Wong, 514th Mission Support Group commander, learned of them and decided to take action in 2013.
Wong worked with Douglas Hicks, a JB MDL firefighter, and together they helped get the project back on track.
“It was such a shared experience,” said Wong. “It didn’t take much persuasion to get people involved in the project. When you know that something is the right thing to do, you make the time to do it.”
FDNY Capt. Simon Ressner honored the ceremony with his keynote speech and recalled the events of that horrific day 15 years ago.
“Through explosions, fires and the unimaginable collapse of two imposing towers, this steel remained. A symbol of endurance and survival,” said Ressner. “Like all memorials the meaning comes from what these pieces inspire in us.”
Ismael Alicea, 87th Civil Engineer/JB MDL fire emergency services, dedicated the memorial to the first responders who lost their lives on September 11, 2001 and all of the servicemembers who have died in the ongoing Global War on Terrorism.
“This will serve as a symbol of the strength and resolve of the American people and our military who have courageously taken the fight to our enemies in the Global War on Terror,” said Alicea. “All gave some. Some gave all. Freedom is not free.”
The ceremony was concluded with a Last Alarm ceremony. During this ceremony a bell is rang five times. The bell ringing recalls a time when electronic alarms didn’t exist. In those times, the fire bell rang to call firefighters to an alarm and then, again, to signal that the alarm had ended.