Twin Towers’ steel beams unveiled at Whitefish 9/11 memorial

To mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that claimed the lives of 2,977 individuals, the Whitefish Firefighters Association dedicated a new memorial featuring three steel beams from the destroyed World Trade Center. 

During a brief ceremony Friday held outside the Whitefish Emergency Services Center, Sal Baccaro, chairman of the Whitefish Firefighters Foundation’s all-volunteer 9/11 Memorial Committee, said the memorial is dedicated to the firefighters, law enforcement officers, military members, emergency personnel and “ordinary citizens, whose extraordinary courage and selfless sacrifice inspire the nation.”

“It is dedicated to the families who continue to carry the weight of loss with dignity, strength and health,” Baccaro said during his remarks. “And it is dedicated to future generations, so they may always remember that freedom carries cost, that courage is found in working people answering extraordinary calls, and that even in our darkest hours, the American spirit endures.”

Plans for the memorial — the second in Montana that features parts of the Twin Towers, with the other in Billings — have been underway for more than 15 years, when Whitefish Fire Chief Thomas Kennelly acquired the steel from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The Whitefish Firefighters Foundation is one of around 1,500 organizations across 50 states and 10 nations housing artifacts from Ground Zero. 

“Each artifact from Hanger 17 is a piece of history that tells a special story about 9/11, such as firefighters and rescuers running into the burning towers to save those who were in the greatest need,” said Joseph W. Pfeifer, chief of counterterrorism and emergency preparedness for the Fire Department of New York after the artifacts were distributed. “The 9/11 steel, whether small or large, represents the 343 firefighters who were lost, as well as all victims of terrorism throughout the world. Not only do these artifacts help us to never forget, but it also represents our hope for an end to terrorism.”

In Whitefish, the steel fragments remained in storage for more than a decade, while plans for a monument slowly coalesced around the 25th anniversary. 

The City of Whitefish granted a small piece of land outside the Emergency Services Center in 2023, and construction began this summer. 

The three beams are set in a Pentagon-shaped concrete foundation, pointing skyward at varying angles. A series of benches will be installed in the near future for visitors to sit and contemplate the memorial.  

At the unveiling ceremony, retired New York Fire Department Lt. Kevin Shea, who was on the ground in Manhattan on 9/11, gave remarks describing the immediate aftermath of the attacks and reflections of the years since. 

When the first plane hit, Shea said everyone first thought a tragic accident had occurred. But when the second tower was struck 17 minutes later, it became “a catastrophe.”

“Everyone went into the city. Guys that were off duty, guys that were retired, everybody went in,” Shea said. “It was chaos because we’re not prepared for that, but also, our command post was lost.”

Shea described working in small teams to dig through the rubble of the collapsed towers, saying that it was just “total destruction” as far as he could see. 

“New York City is like a beehive, all you hear is helicopters and planes and the sky is abuzz all day long” Shea said. But while they were working, “silence. Nothing.”

Shea spoke about losing colleagues in the collapse of the two towers, seeing friends deal with losing family members, and what it was like watching the nation mobilize in response to the attacks. 

Following the attacks, as the U.S. military deployed overseas, Shea said that the New York Fire Department fielded requests from all branches and special forces of the military asking to wear FDNY patches abroad, sending photos back to members of the department. 

“When people say to you ‘thank you for your service,’ sometimes it sounds like lip service, but I truly mean that from the bottom of my heart,” Shea said.

“What happens when you get hit hard? You want to hit back, But I’m not in the military, it’s not what I do,” Shea said. “I couldn’t hit back and you hit back for me. I don’t care if that’s totally incorrect or not. That’s how I felt.”

Shea, who lives in the Flathead, has spoken about his experiences from 9/11 many times over the last quarter-century and said he still gets emotional every time. 

“When a tragedy happens to you, you never forget, as much as you might want to forget that stuff. But you have to keep moving on,” he said. “Like I needed your help back in the day. Now we’re all right, and now somebody else needs the help. It’s time to do something for someone else.”