From Ground Zero to Colorado Springs: The story behind seven 9/11 monuments
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- 25 years ago, in the wake of tragedy, came unity.
Don Addy remembers what happened the day after September 11, 2001.
"Everybody was flying a U.S. flag," Addy said. "There were candles in windows. There were people that were mourning the losses. We were unified as a nation that day."
From destruction comes creation. The creation of steel monuments from that destruction. Colorado Springs residents can thank Addy for the monuments around town.
"I want to be sure that we paid respect to all those people who have served our nation from Colorado Springs," he said.
Addy made it his mission to bring seven distinct artifacts made from World Trade Center steel to Colorado Springs.
Two of them are at Fort Carson, including one that is right outside the base.
"So I tagged the device I thought would be good, in this case, for Fort Carson, it was laying on the floor, all mangled and twisted, and I thought, well, that would be perfect for Fort Carson," Addy said.
The other is in the Fort Carson Museum, which Addy says was given to a soldier whose father was killed in the 9/11 attacks.
"He was deployed to Afghanistan and set up a memorial outside of his forward operating base. So all the soldiers coming by could see that. And when his deployment was over, he brought it back to Fort Carson."
Students at UCCS built the artifact at Cheyenne Mountain. It's marked with quotes from President George W. Bush's famous speech: "We will not tire. We will not falter. We will not waver. We will not fail."
The beam is oriented to face UCCS. Peter Gorder is a professor at UCCS, where you can find another artifact.
"If you look at this artifact, it is pointing right at Cheyenne Mountain, its sister monument," Gorder said. "The general design is the same. You've seen the one up at Cheyenne Mountain. So you've seen the globe that the big beam goes through. And so this is sort of a companion piece to it."
Peterson Space Force Base is home to its own artifact, oriented toward New York City.
Karl Fruendt, a retired US Air Force officer, talked about the monument's significance.
"The base of the memorial is in the shape of the Pentagon to remind us of our comrades and those folks lost at the Pentagon. The soil inside the memorial actually comes from Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and it reminds us of the brave men and women on Flight 93," Fruendt said.
Schriever Space Force Base is home to another monument. The path leading to the artifact represents the flight paths to the World Trade Center.
The last one is at the Air Force Academy. It features two granite pieces symbolizing the twin towers. The artifact is suspended between them, with the base of the monument representing the Pentagon.
All of these artifacts represent American resilience. Creation from destruction. September 11, 2001. Never forget.
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