Latest 9/11 memorial to be dedicated today
The dedication ceremony is set for today.
A memorial on a Long Island beach is among a growing number that honor people who died of illnesses years after the Sept. 11 attacks.
A POINT LOOKOUT, N.Y. — Long Island beach where people gathered and watched in horror as the distant World Trade Center towers collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001, is the site of the latest memorial to victims of the terror attacks and among a growing number that honor people who died of illnesses years after participating in the rescue and recovery effort.
The dedication ceremony for the $1.3 million monument, built by the town of Hempstead near the Atlan
tic Ocean on Long Island’s south shore, is set for today, the 16th anniversary of the attacks.
The monument features a twisted, 30-foot-tall beam of Trade Center steel, an elevated walkway and granite plaques engraved with the
names of the nearly 3,000 people who d ied in the attacks. A separate plaque will have the names of 582 police officers, firefighters, construction workers,
cleanup volunteers and oth- ers who spent time in the rubble of the World Trade Center in the days or months after the attacks and, years later, died of a variety of causes that they, their families or their doctors suspected were linked to toxic ash and smoke at the site.
There will be room to add more names, should it become necessary.
“I think what the town of Hempstead is doing is noth- ing short of honorable,” said John Feal, a longtime advo- cate for 9/11 responders with health problems. “People who lost a loved one to illness suffer just like someone lost on that day. Hopefully this will offer some ease and comfort to them.”
Hempstead’s monument joins a short but growing list of similar memorials recognizing people who fell ill after participating in the rescue and recovery operation.
In May, officials at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum announced plans to set aside a commemorative space at the World Trade Center to honor rescue and recovery workers. New York’s police and fire departments also have memorials for personnel who have died of illnesses since Sept. 11, and a 9/11 memorial in Staten Island recently added a plaque with the names of residents there who have died of illnesses. Feal’s charitable organiza
tion also maintains a memo- rial wall to 9/11 responders in Nesconset, N.Y.
“I truly believe that everyone there that day was a hero,” said Robert Gies, who was 13 when his father, New York City Fire Department Lt. Ronnie Gies, died in the south tower. “Whether they
died on 9/11 or four years later, every person is a hero. Those people who worked there in the aftermath in those hazardous conditions, those people touch my heart. They rushed there to save and find my father. They found him and he was able to be laid to rest. That’s huge closure.” Today’s 9/11 memorials will be the first for Donald Trump as president. The White House said Trump and first lady Melania Trump will observe a moment of silence this morning, scheduled for about the time the first airplane struck one of the Twin Towers. Trump also plans to participate in a 9/11 observance at the Pentagon.
‘I truly believe that everyone there that day was a hero. Whether they died on 9/11 or four years later, every person is a hero.’ Robert Gies His firefighting father died in the south tower