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1500 Park Avenue
Bremerton, WA 98312
United States
Date Created:
8/22/2010
About:

The New York/New Jersey Port Authority and the Families of the 9/11 Organization awarded Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue two steel beams, recovered from the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, to be used in a national memorial program. The beams traveled from coast to coast to arrive in Silverdale, WA on August 22, 2010

The Kitsap 911 memorial reveals the stories of that day at the level of detail desired by the visitor. For those that want to view the beams from the World Trade Center and the Pentagon stone with no commentary at all, they can do so by simply walking the memorial and touching them.

For those who desire to know more about the events of the day, and the stories of heroism as they unfolded, they can study the memorial more closely. Each element of the memorial tells a part of the story.

The steel beams are set in a recess with a metal cover. The metal covers are in the shape and orientation that the World Trade Center towers stood on their site in New York and each tower is represented by a different color of metal. That same color of metal is used in the cast metal timeline rings that are set into the memorial paving. The rings are arranged such that 12:00 is due north, and the beginning of each ring is located at the point on a clock where the series of events described occurred.

For example, the innermost ring is cast in the same metal as the north tower base. It begins just west of due north, indication that American Airlines Flight 11 departed at 7:50 a.m. on September 11. That ring would be made of heavy cast metal tiles that could be engraved with the events that occurred during the flight, such as the dawning realization that the flight was no longer controlled by the pilots. At the location on the ring corresponding to 8:45 a.m. the ring intersects a very dark metal strip that moves outward to another ring of the same color. That dark strip represents the time that the aircraft struck the north tower of the World Trade Center. The ring of the same color continues around until it reaches the point representing 10:28 a.m., which is the time that the north tower collapsed. This ring representing the north tower events would again be engraved with the stories of both the workers and first responders, and the heroism of both as they dealt with the aftermath of the explosion. At 10:28 a.m. there is another dark metal strip that radiates out to where it meets the low wall surrounding the memorial, which represents that tower. Additional stories and accounts, both local and in New York could be engraved on the metal cap atop the wall. The desire is to seek community input for the stories to be placed in this location.

Each ring represents a flight and a location, with the color and type of metal relating to the WTC site, the Pentagon, or the Pennsylvania crash site of Flight 93 - each again engraved with the stories along the timeline as the occurred. The South Tower radial line connects to the other low wall at the time that the tower collapsed, and the Pentagon radial line runs through the center of a break in the low wall. The top of the wall at the break contains the cornice stone salvaged from the Pentagon. The ring representing Flight 93 would be made of cast glass, also engraved with the stories of the passengers and others on the ground. The radial at the time of the crash returns to the center of the memorial. The diameter of the central circle is identical to the fuselage radius of the 767 aircraft, and the cast glass squares represent the seating layout of the coach cabin, where the passengers planned the retaking of the aircraft, preventing another attack.

The outer curved wall, the flag, and the tiles represent the responses to 911 that occurred AFTER September 11 - including patriotism and hope.