Fallen Twin Towers extend memorial to Utah’s fallen warriors

Written by Michael Flynn
September 25, 2013
Utah’s Fallen Warrior Memorial Ceremony, parking lot of The Home Depot on Telegraph, Washington City, Utah, Sept. 24, 2013 | Photo by John Teas, St. George News

WASHINGTON CITY – A crowd gathered in Washington City yesterday for the presentation of a 4.5-ton section of wall salvaged from the ruins of the World Trade Center. Community members gathered to commemorate those who lost their lives in the 2001 attacks and subsequent wars that followed.

The monument rolled into Washington City on a flatbed truck at 4 p.m. Washington City police cruisers escorted the truck from the Interstate-15 off-ramp to the parking lot of The Home Depot on Telegraph Road where a small crowd of people had already gathered.

The fragment was once a piece of the World Trade Center’s slurry wall, which served as an underground barrier between the building’s foundation and the corrosive waters of the Hudson River.  The piece is making its way through the entire state, visiting 20 cities across Utah on it’s way to Salt Lake City where it will be installed as a monument at the Fort Douglas Military Museum. Washington City was the fourth stop on the tour.

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Videocast by Michael Flynn, St. George News

At 6 p.m., a short ceremony was held. The American Legion played taps and performed a 21 gun salute to honor all of those who have died in service of their country since the attacks. Afterwards, Washington City Mayor Ken Neilson spoke about the importance of service.

“There’s not a lot I can say, but there is one thing that I would counsel you to do,” he said to the assembled crowd. “Take care of your families,” he said. “Take care of yourself and look for somebody who is in need and go help them.”

Washington City councilman Bill Hudson and Police Chief Jim Keith also spoke to the crowd, as did Raette Belcher, the woman responsible for bringing the monument to Utah in the first place.

Belcher founded a group called Utah Fallen Warriors after having dinner with a group of mothers who had all lost sons or daughters in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “I realized that, most of all, what these mothers wanted was for their sons to be remembered,” Belcher said. “So I embarked upon this mission and here I am today.”

Belcher said that, while the main purpose of the tour is to share the monument with people outside of the Salt Lake area, they are also raising money for the completion of a memorial garden at the Fort Douglas Military Museum, where the monument is planned to be installed.

“We are almost finished with the construction work on it, but we are still raising funds to make this happen,” said Belcher. She said that people can help to make the memorial a reality by donating at the Utah Wounded Warriors website.

The monument will be displayed in Cedar City this afternoon from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. at Main Street Park, with a ceremony planned for 6 p.m.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2013, all rights reserved.

Utah’s Fallen Warrior Memorial Ceremony, parking lot of The Home Depot on Telegraph, Washington City, Utah, Sept. 24, 2013 | Photo by John Teas, St. George News
Utah’s Fallen Warrior Memorial Ceremony, parking lot of The Home Depot on Telegraph, Washington City, Utah, Sept. 24, 2013 | Photo by John Teas, St. George News

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Originally from Grafton, Ohio, Michael Flynn has lived in Southern Utah since 2008. Michael studied technical writing and editing at DSU and graduated with a degree in English in 2011.

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1 Comment

  • truthseeker September 27, 2013 at 2:59 am

    They’re still trying to sell the lie to the American people 12 years later. Stuff like this further suppresses the truth and perpetuates the myth. Those vets would lose ther mind once they found out what really happened. I find it’s interesting that they’re using a 4.5 ton chunk of concrete, and was in an undamaged location, bcus most of the concrete was pulverized into dust from the military grade nano thermite that brought the buildings down. 😉

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