GOOCHLAND COUNTY, Va. -- As the sun set on the 23rd anniversary of September 11, its rays reflected on two rusted pieces of steel outside Fire Station 1 in Goochland.
Those pieces of steel are a focal point of where tragedy struck took hold.
"Those pieces came from Tower 1, which was the first one struck by Flight 11, between the 92nd and 94th floor," said John Riley, the President of the Freedom Flag Foundation.
The foundation helped create the Freedom Flag, a symbol of the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York, Arlington, and Pennsylvania.
They also helped get the pieces of Tower 1 to Goochland County to create a memorial.
"We were assuming that it would be 8 inches by 12 inches, and we can go and pick it up, and drive it back, and everything would be fine," said Richard Melito, who created the Freedom Flag. "She said it's 8 feet by 12 feet, and it weighs 1.3 tons."
Since being placed outside the fire station in 2009, it's brought visitors from near and far, as well as first responders paying their respects, every September 11.
“It’s all manner from awe and reverence, some people just want to stand and look at it, others have tears, others must touch it, they may have known somebody that responded and recovered victims, they may have known somebody that was lost in the towers," Riley said.
Riley knows the feeling of loss, reminded each year of one of his best friends.
“I lost one of my best friends in that tower. I grew up in Midlothian and graduated from Midlothian High School in 92 with Doug Ketcham," Riley said. "Doug worked at the top of Tower 1 with Cantor Fitzgerald, and he was above the first impact. He got one phone call out to his mom and said he didn’t think he was going to make it out, and he didn’t know what had happened, but there had been an explosion, and the place was filling up with smoke, and he had to go.”
The Freedom Flag Foundation, which set the foundation for a 9/11 memorial in Goochland and Henrico County, now uses it as a teaching tool for younger generations, to remind them of the terrorist attacks that rocked our nation, and the rebuilding that happened in its wake.
"Really the message is, never forget," Riley said.
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