Public Opinion
GETTYSBURG, Pa. — A piece of steel from the World Trade Center is being presented to the Gettysburg Fire Department Saturday during a memorial service.
The steel had previously belonged to William Harris, a 40-year volunteer firefighter, who had stepped up to help with the recovery effort in New York in the days after 9-11, according to a release from the Gettysburg Fire Department.
Harris was granted permission to reclaim some of the steel to be used in monuments and memorials across the nation, the fire department said.
Although Harris passed away at the age of 57 in 2008 from exposure to harmful materials during his time at the World Trade Center site, his son, also named William Harris, announced the donation recently, the fire department said.
“The younger Harris is pleased to donate this steel to the Gettysburg Volunteer Fire Department for inclusion in its museum,” said Gettysburg Fire Chief Allen Baldwin in the release.
“In a town with its own history and to a fire department looking to preserve it in their won right, the steel will service to reinforce a phrase that has become synonymous with Sept. 11, 2001. That phrase is simply ‘Never forget.’”
The elder Harris has provided steel to create more than 100 monuments and memorials in town parks, schools and civic organizations, the fire department said.
Copyright 2012 Public Opinion All Rights Reserved