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This September will mark 25 years since 9/11. For nearly a quarter of a century, the Flight 93 memorial in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, has honored those who lost their lives and the impact it’s had since then.On Thursday, those stories were met by ones from New York through a nationally touring memorial.“My father’s body was never recovered,” Stephen Siller Jr. said. “Who he was is ingrained in that steel.”The story of Siller’s dad and Frank Siller’s brother, Stephen Siller Sr., is where the display starts.“My brother ran through a tunnel with 60 pounds of fire gear on his back,” Frank Siller said. “What he did was so heroic, but he wasn’t the only one. We want to honor all of the heroes.”After Stephen Siller Sr. died on 9/11, his family began the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.The foundation is touring the country, leading up to its 25th anniversary this September, with Steel Across America.“This is where 40 heroes lost their lives saving countless others,” Stephen Siller Jr. said. “This is one of the most important stops we’ll make along the way.”Steel Across America features a 16,000-pound beam from the South Tower at the World Trade Center site. It was welcomed by the first fire engine on the scene in Shanksville in 2001.“It’s moving,” Shanksville fire Chief Chris Meyer said. “There’s no other apparatus in the county that was here that day. It’s a feeling that never leaves you. It’s a memorial. It’s sacred.”Even though they were thousands of miles apart on Sept. 11, 2001, Meyer and retired FDNY firefighter Joseph Lapointe are connected by the beam.“It’s powerful,” Lapointe said. “I was off duty that day, working on the side. A guy came in to make a delivery and says a plane had hit the World Trade Center. It’s just powerful. It’s the same when you go to the 9/11 memorial, the Pentagon — you get the visual.”“This piece of steel going around is a piece of here,” Frank Siller added. “Even though it’s from the South Tower, that’s the same story that is here.”The beam left Somerset County on Thursday, but it took with it the memories from Flight 93.“There are so many guys who never got the chance to go back to their families, just like my father,” Stephen Siller Jr. said. “They’re embedded in that steel. That needs to be remembered.”Steel Across America will make 36 stops before Sept. 11, 2026. It will end its journey in New York City.
This September will mark 25 years since 9/11. For nearly a quarter of a century, the Flight 93 memorial in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, has honored those who lost their lives and the impact it’s had since then.
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On Thursday, those stories were met by ones from New York through a nationally touring memorial.
“My father’s body was never recovered,” Stephen Siller Jr. said. “Who he was is ingrained in that steel.”
The story of Siller’s dad and Frank Siller’s brother, Stephen Siller Sr., is where the display starts.
“My brother ran through a tunnel with 60 pounds of fire gear on his back,” Frank Siller said. “What he did was so heroic, but he wasn’t the only one. We want to honor all of the heroes.”
After Stephen Siller Sr. died on 9/11, his family began the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
The foundation is touring the country, leading up to its 25th anniversary this September, with Steel Across America.
“This is where 40 heroes lost their lives saving countless others,” Stephen Siller Jr. said. “This is one of the most important stops we’ll make along the way.”
Steel Across America features a 16,000-pound beam from the South Tower at the World Trade Center site. It was welcomed by the first fire engine on the scene in Shanksville in 2001.
“It’s moving,” Shanksville fire Chief Chris Meyer said. “There’s no other apparatus in the county that was here that day. It’s a feeling that never leaves you. It’s a memorial. It’s sacred.”
Even though they were thousands of miles apart on Sept. 11, 2001, Meyer and retired FDNY firefighter Joseph Lapointe are connected by the beam.
“It’s powerful,” Lapointe said. “I was off duty that day, working on the side. A guy came in to make a delivery and says a plane had hit the World Trade Center. It’s just powerful. It’s the same when you go to the 9/11 memorial, the Pentagon — you get the visual.”
“This piece of steel going around is a piece of here,” Frank Siller added. “Even though it’s from the South Tower, that’s the same story that is here.”
The beam left Somerset County on Thursday, but it took with it the memories from Flight 93.
“There are so many guys who never got the chance to go back to their families, just like my father,” Stephen Siller Jr. said. “They’re embedded in that steel. That needs to be remembered.”
Steel Across America will make 36 stops before Sept. 11, 2026. It will end its journey in New York City.
