NY Post – June 20, 2016
by Susan Edelman
A foundation formed to honor the sacrifice of a heroic 9/11 firefighter will get the final salvaged pieces of the World Trade Center to help keep the memory of the terror attacks alive.
The Port Authority has awarded a WTC elevator motor, a chunk of the parking garage, and part of the base of the North Tower antenna to the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
The foundation, which runs a traveling 9/11 display, plans to incorporate the pieces in a new exhibit to move from museum to museum every six months or so, chief operating officer John Hodge told The Post.
“We will teach the youth of America about 9/11,” Hodge said. “I think it will bring into perspective just how big these buildings were and what a major deal it was that they collapsed.”
The sacred relics have lain in storage inside Hangar 17 at JFK airport for nearly 15 years. The foundation plans to hold a solemn ceremony with members of the FDNY, NYPD and Port Authority Police “so we’re just not driving them away,” Hodge said.
The three pieces weigh a combined 105,000 pounds. Hodge is amazed that the antenna survived a crashing fall from 110 floors.
“That’s the most stirring piece,” he said. “One of the searing images of 9/11 was seeing that antenna go straight down.”
That morning, Stephen Siller, 34, was off-duty but ran through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel with 65 pounds of gear to join his team at Squad 1 in Manhattan. All 12 perished in the South Tower.
The foundation also obtained other items, including PAPD cars, PATH rails, and swimsuits on mannequins from WTC shops.
The Port Authority has distributed 2,500 WTC artifacts to 1,561 recipients — mostly US municipalities, schools, public safety agencies, and civic groups that agreed to display the items publicly.
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