Colorado firefighters who responded on 9/11 escort piece of twin towers to new Fort Collins memorial
A piece of American history has been permanently installed in Fort Collins, as Poudre Fire Station #3 cemented a piece of the twin towers into the park behind their fire station. The piece of the twin towers was officially unveiled at a ceremony in Fort Collins on Monday afternoon.
The piece of steel, which stands several feet tall, serves as a reminder to the Northern Colorado community of what the U.S. has been through, and the sacrifices many paid for freedom.
"We just don't want people to forget," said Jim Durkin, a former firefighter who responded to ground zero.
Durkin, Jim Salisbury and Lin Lindholm are just three of the many now-retired Poudre Fire employees who helped dig for survivors in 2001. The same group of men were those who helped escort the piece of steel across the country to Fort Collins.
"That represents over 3,000 people who died," Durkin said.
The piece of the rubble was initially covered by an American flag until it was unveiled to the community on Monday evening.
Salisbury said the memorial does remind him of his time in New York City over 20 years ago.
"It was very humbling and scary," Salisbury said. "We spent a lot of time cutting metal to where the people were."
Lindholm said he was moved by the amount of people who paid respect to the piece of the twin towers as they drove through the heartland of the country.
"I shed some tears," Lindholm said.
Those who CBS News Colorado's Dillon Thomas spoke with said they are not sure if they will ever emotionally heal from what they experienced at ground zero in 2001. However, they said bringing the piece of the rubble to Fort Collins plays a big role in helping the community remember the more than 300 first responders who died that day.
"I don't know if I'll ever totally be healed," Durkin said. "People remembering is probably the strongest part of our healing."
Those who helped in 2001, and then escorted the memorial in 2024, said they hoped future generations will be able to reflect at the new memorial and forever remember those who died in the attacks.
"It was just very helpful for my head, to be a small part of that," Durkin said.
"It's a piece of history that people can come and look at and bow and think about what the United States has gone through," Lindholm said. "It was one of the warmest feelings I've ever had, there's a lot of humanity left in the United States."