‘Never forget’

Local 9/11 monument is dedicated“Never forget” is the simple, but powerful statement posted along side a 9/11 steel memorial dedicated outside the Clear Lake Fire Station on the 11th anniversary of a day which changed the world.

A huge crowd filled the driveway, sidewalk and lawn of the new fire station on

the corner of North 8th Street and 2nd Avenue North Tuesday to witness the unveiling of a monument created to display a piece of steel salvaged from the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11, 2001 tragedy.  The steel was ceremoniously brought to Clear Lake in May 2011 by local firefighters.  It has been displayed at the Clear Lake Fire Museum while a new monument using the steel as its centerpiece could be developed.

The monument features the steel beam mounted atop a granite base.  Water flows over the granite.  Concrete benches surround the landscaped site, inviting visitors to stop and reflect.  The message at the monument is:

“Never forget.  This World Trade Center Steel Memorial is dedicated on September 11, 2012 to the memory and honor of the 343 firefighters, 60 law enforcement officers and 3,094 citizens that lost their lives on September 11, 2001 in New York City, at the Pentagon in Washington D.C. and on Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.”

The dedication ceremony included several touching moments in which persons shared where they were and their memories of watching and hearing reports of the tragic day.

Clear Lake residents Larry and Sue Jacobson participated in a flag ceremony which opened the event.   Larry’s cousin Thomas Burnett Jr. was killed on Flight 93 which crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pa. 

Mayor Nelson Crabb, a native of New Jersey, shared his vivid recollection of learning about planes crashing into the World Trade Center while working at North Iowa Area Community College.  At first he thought the report couldn’t be - Read More Via e-Edition