Despite the rain, the ride rolled on for a group bringing a piece of the World Trade Center to Braselton.
Special Messages - Visitors at YearOne were invited to write messages on a steel beam from the World Trade Center to troops and others on Tuesday.
World Trade Center steel makes stop in Braselton
The Iron and Steel Ride — which benefits the Fire Family Transport Foundation and the Wounded Warriors Project — made a brief stop at YearOne, Braselton, on Tuesday during its five-day journey from New York to Ft. Benning.
Starting last Saturday, an estimated 200 motorcyclists escorted a steel beam from the World Trade Center from New York on a trip to Ft. Benning.
Braselton was one of the last two refueling stops for the group before it arrived Tuesday afternoon at the military base south of Columbus.
“It’s amazing, the response,” said Greg Alspach, director of the Iron and Steel ride. “People want to see it and touch it.”
The ride into Braselton included a large American flag hanging from two fire ladder trucks at YearOne. Braselton police and the Georgia State Patrol escorted the group to the YearOne facility located off Ga. Hwy. 53.
Along with the motorcyclists, the FDNY Fire Family Transport Foundation escorted the beam found in the rubble of the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The nonprofit group supports firefighters’ families and purchases its vehicles with its own funds.
One of those vehicles featured in Braselton included Engine 343 — which is dedicated to the 343 New York City firefighters that lost their lives on 9/11.
Once at Ft. Benning, the beam — dedicated to those in the U.S. Army — will be placed at the National Infantry Museum next to the statue of Col. Rick Rescorla.
A vice president of security for Morgan Stanley/Dean Witter at the World Trade Center, Rescorla is credited with telling 2,700 people to leave the building on Sept. 11, 2001 — despite warnings from the Port Authority to remain indoors. Rescorla was also a retired Army colonel who survived the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.
“We could have lost 6,000 people (on Sept. 11, 2001) if it weren’t for his heroic efforts that day,” said Pat Stansbury, executive director of the National Museum of Patriotism, Atlanta.
The museum served as the official welcoming group for the Iron and Steel ride in Georgia.
Stansbury said welcoming the group to the state means preservation of freedom and remembering the victims of Sept. 11, 2001.
“If we forget what happened that day, we stand a chance of having an attack again,” she said. “As long as America is aware and on guard, we can stay free.”
Memorial Service at Chateau Elan
Braselton Mayor Pat Graham remembers exactly where she was on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.
She was in the clubhouse at Chateau Elan, discussing items with a citizen when news of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center spread through the building overlooking a serene golf course.
“We sat and held our meeting, and in about another 35 minutes we actually watched on TV as the second plane hit the second tower,” Graham said on Friday, just a just short distance from Chateau Elan’s clubhouse.
State insurance and safety fire commissioner John Oxendine also vividly recalls that time when he watched the terrorist attacks unfold on TV as he watched from a hotel room in Savannah.
Of the 2,974 people killed on 9/11, Oxendine said he knew three of them, including one of the top officials of the Port Authority, which owns the World Trade Center complex. Another friend survived the attack on the second tower and walked past the firefighters racing up the skyscraper’s stairs to save victims.
“I want to remind you that you’re going to have to be steadfast (and) to always stand up for God and for freedom,” Oxendine said.
Graham and Oxendine were just two of the guest speakers featured at a 9/11 memorial service on Friday at Chateau Elan.
The event was sponsored by TeenPact Leadership Schools and co-sponsored by Young Americans Foundation. Students from Bethlehem Christian Academy in Barrow County placed 2,974 flags near the 18th green on a golf course.
“Thank you for putting out those flags, it means a lot to me because of my friends that they represent,” Oxendine said.
The memorial service in Braselton featured speakers largely focusing on the country’s religious heritage and its future.
“September 11th is a day that reminded us of our religious heritage and our deep Christian roots as a nation,” said Shane Coley, Winder.
After 9/11, there were two great “calls to action,” he explained.
The first required sending American troops to foreign lands to subdue the country’s enemies, Coley said. The second call to action is for Americans to never forget the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
After the terrorist attacks, Americans’ hearts were filled with anxiety, but the country’s Christian foundation stood strong, said the Rev. Jody Hice, pastor of Bethlehem First Baptist Church.
“Yes, we saw great, phenomenal acts of heroism (and) of compassion, but the cornerstone of it was a faith,” Hice said. “9/11 was a turning point in our nation, but so was 9/12 — the day after 9/11 was a day when across America we were turning our hearts back to God, and we were crying out to God as a nation.”
Starting last Saturday, an estimated 200 motorcyclists escorted a steel beam from the World Trade Center from New York on a trip to Ft. Benning.
Braselton was one of the last two refueling stops for the group before it arrived Tuesday afternoon at the military base south of Columbus.
“It’s amazing, the response,” said Greg Alspach, director of the Iron and Steel ride. “People want to see it and touch it.”
The ride into Braselton included a large American flag hanging from two fire ladder trucks at YearOne. Braselton police and the Georgia State Patrol escorted the group to the YearOne facility located off Ga. Hwy. 53.
Along with the motorcyclists, the FDNY Fire Family Transport Foundation escorted the beam found in the rubble of the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The nonprofit group supports firefighters’ families and purchases its vehicles with its own funds.
One of those vehicles featured in Braselton included Engine 343 — which is dedicated to the 343 New York City firefighters that lost their lives on 9/11.
Once at Ft. Benning, the beam — dedicated to those in the U.S. Army — will be placed at the National Infantry Museum next to the statue of Col. Rick Rescorla.
A vice president of security for Morgan Stanley/Dean Witter at the World Trade Center, Rescorla is credited with telling 2,700 people to leave the building on Sept. 11, 2001 — despite warnings from the Port Authority to remain indoors. Rescorla was also a retired Army colonel who survived the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.
“We could have lost 6,000 people (on Sept. 11, 2001) if it weren’t for his heroic efforts that day,” said Pat Stansbury, executive director of the National Museum of Patriotism, Atlanta.
The museum served as the official welcoming group for the Iron and Steel ride in Georgia.
Stansbury said welcoming the group to the state means preservation of freedom and remembering the victims of Sept. 11, 2001.
“If we forget what happened that day, we stand a chance of having an attack again,” she said. “As long as America is aware and on guard, we can stay free.”
Memorial Service at Chateau Elan
Braselton Mayor Pat Graham remembers exactly where she was on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.
She was in the clubhouse at Chateau Elan, discussing items with a citizen when news of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center spread through the building overlooking a serene golf course.
“We sat and held our meeting, and in about another 35 minutes we actually watched on TV as the second plane hit the second tower,” Graham said on Friday, just a just short distance from Chateau Elan’s clubhouse.
State insurance and safety fire commissioner John Oxendine also vividly recalls that time when he watched the terrorist attacks unfold on TV as he watched from a hotel room in Savannah.
Of the 2,974 people killed on 9/11, Oxendine said he knew three of them, including one of the top officials of the Port Authority, which owns the World Trade Center complex. Another friend survived the attack on the second tower and walked past the firefighters racing up the skyscraper’s stairs to save victims.
“I want to remind you that you’re going to have to be steadfast (and) to always stand up for God and for freedom,” Oxendine said.
Graham and Oxendine were just two of the guest speakers featured at a 9/11 memorial service on Friday at Chateau Elan.
The event was sponsored by TeenPact Leadership Schools and co-sponsored by Young Americans Foundation. Students from Bethlehem Christian Academy in Barrow County placed 2,974 flags near the 18th green on a golf course.
“Thank you for putting out those flags, it means a lot to me because of my friends that they represent,” Oxendine said.
The memorial service in Braselton featured speakers largely focusing on the country’s religious heritage and its future.
“September 11th is a day that reminded us of our religious heritage and our deep Christian roots as a nation,” said Shane Coley, Winder.
After 9/11, there were two great “calls to action,” he explained.
The first required sending American troops to foreign lands to subdue the country’s enemies, Coley said. The second call to action is for Americans to never forget the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
After the terrorist attacks, Americans’ hearts were filled with anxiety, but the country’s Christian foundation stood strong, said the Rev. Jody Hice, pastor of Bethlehem First Baptist Church.
“Yes, we saw great, phenomenal acts of heroism (and) of compassion, but the cornerstone of it was a faith,” Hice said. “9/11 was a turning point in our nation, but so was 9/12 — the day after 9/11 was a day when across America we were turning our hearts back to God, and we were crying out to God as a nation.”
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