Good morning.
Over my left shoulder is something gnarled and rusted, torn and tattered. One might say it’s even ugly.
It is roughly 13 feet tall and weighs more than one human could possibly lift.
It is made of American steel, forged in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, likely around 1966. After production, the steel was shipped across the state to Pittsburgh, where it was used to construct 80-foot-tall steel columns known as tridents—because of their three prongs on top.
One hundred and sixty-eight tridents[1] were assembled, collectively serving as the exterior facade of the World Trade Center’s twin towers in New York City.
After construction, each trident was shipped on a railroad car from Pittsburgh to New Jersey and then taken by semi-truck through the Holland Tunnel to lower Manhattan.
It was there that these giant steel structures found their home in lower Manhattan.
The tridents stood tall from the day they were anchored to the ground in the late 1960s, through the day they survived a terrorist bombing in 1993, until the early morning of September 11th, 2001.
It was that morning—a perfect, blue-skied day in late summer—when the two towers were brought down by hijacked airliners, killing nearly 3,000 people inside and around.
Among those victims were three IUP alumni: Donald Jones, William Moskal, and Bill Sugra.
After ground zero was meticulously excavated, the wreckage of the two skyscrapers was shipped away.
This mass of steel behind me, a top of one of the tridents, was shipped out of lower Manhattan, along the highways and railroads. Thanks to the Kovalchick Corporation of Indiana, it arrived here in the Oak Grove in the fall of 2002.[2]
For us, it is a memorial. It stands in honor of the lives lost and the lives affected by the September 11 attacks. It reminds us of that horrific day when our world changed forever.
It’s somewhat fitting that it stands on the edge of the Oak Grove because the designer of the World Trade Center, Minoru Yamasaki, preferred to call the tridents “trees,” suggesting the three extensions were like limbs.[3]
It’s a strong piece of steel. For almost 22 years, it has stood tall in that spot, without shade or cover. It has withstood the summer sun, the cold winters, and every day in between. Although it came from a heap of destruction, it stands strong today, reminding us of the strength we have, individually and collectively, to persevere—to continue on.
It’s a reminder that if we help each other, if we do what’s best for our society over ourselves, if we help when needed, we will find and embrace the good in this world.
If we can find that grace in our lives and show it to those around us, we can have the kind of peace that seemed so impossible on September 11th, 2001.
Some might say this piece of steel over my left shoulder is ugly. But I say there is a certain beauty to it.
God bless the lives lost on 9/11.
God bless the first responders who showed up without hesitation and sacrificed so much.
God bless those who continue to suffer 23 years later so they may gain a measure of comfort.
God bless the memory of Donald Jones, William Moskal, and Bill Sugra.
And God bless the United States of America.
Thank you.
[1] The Tridents: 9/11 Memorial and Museum
[2] The Journey of 75C792, IUP Magazine, Fall/Winter 2016
[3] Ibid.