World Trade Center Beam In South Florida Bound For Memorial Site
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A piece of the World Trade Center is now in South Florida.
The 2,000-pound beam from one of the towers that fell on September 11, 2001 made its way from New York to Miami International Airport on Thursday.
The piece of cargo landed in Miami just after 7 p.m. and is being stored overnight before making its way to its final resting place at Kennedy Space Center on Friday.
A special procession will carry the beam up the East coast.
American Airlines is handling the transportation of the beam.
"Our team in New York actually created a very special tractor and dolly and also made a box to ship this in, really to commemorate how important this is and also to make sure it's shipped with honor and dignity," said Marilyn DeVoe with American Airlines.
"This kind of ends a 4 year project for us. Firefighters, several years ago started a memorial. Since then they've built on it and built on it. At the end, they were missing a piece. And that was a piece of the Trade Center," said Kevin Smith with the Local 525 Transport Workers Union.
The beam will be part of a 9/11 memorial at the space center which will be displayed to the public after a ceremony on September 11th
It will eventually be positioned next to a sign bearing the number 343-- the number of firefighters killed when the towers collapsed.
Despite the painful memories, it's a symbol first responders will cherish.
"A lot of firefighters here with a lot of years, have spent a lot of time doing launches for NASA. Very experienced. And this is their highlight. This is at the top of their career," Smith said.
The firefighters started a GoFundMe page to raise money to cover the costs of transporting the beam. To contribute, visit http://www.gofundme.com/rememberthewtc.
