A 21-foot, 16,900-pound steel beam recovered from the World Trade Center’s South Tower arrived in Indianapolis last month as part of a nationwide tour commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Sept.11 terrorist attacks in a tribute that will ultimately end up back at Ground Zero.The Tunnel to Towers Foundation brought its "Steel Across America" tour to the Indiana War Memorial and Museum on Aug.
19, marking the tour’s 31st stop.The beam is traveling more than 10,500 miles through 21 states and Washington, D.C., before returning to New York City for a Sept.
11 commemoration.The piece of steel recovered from Ground Zero in the days after the attacks by first responders who rushed to the site has since become a symbol of the nearly 3,000 civilians, firefighters, police officers, emergency workers and military personnel who died that day."For the past four months, communities across the country have welcomed this sacred piece of American history with incredible emotion," Tunnel to Towers Chairman and CEO Frank Siller said in a press release."Watching people stand in front of that steel, hugging it, praying over it, weeping, reminds me every single day of why we do this work."TUNNEL TO TOWERS ANNOUNCES 'STEEL ACROSS AMERICA' TOUR TO MARK 25 YEARS SINCE 9/11 ATTACKSFrank Siller, CEO of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, stands near a piece of World Trade Center steel that will be featured during the foundation's effort to honor and remember the victims of the 9/11 attacks as the 25th anniversary approaches.
(Courtesy: Tunnel to Towers Foundation)The Indianapolis ceremony included a color guard, a Pipes and Drums procession, the national anthem performed by the Voices of the Indianapolis Fire Department and an invocation from Indianapolis Fire Department Chaplain Mike Gatliff.Indianapolis Fire Division Chief Tom Neal and Timothy Winslow, a retired major general and executive director of the Indiana War Memorial and Museum, also addressed the crowd about the connection...