Steel Across America Concludes Cross-Country 9/11 Memorial at New York Giants Game

The Tunnel to Towers Steel Across America tour ended its journey of more than 38 stops this week with a final appearance at MetLife Stadium during a New York Giants game.

At the center of the tour was a 21-foot steel beam recovered from the World Trade Center’s South Tower. Launched in May, the beam traveled from the East Coast across the country before returning to the New York City area for events commemorating the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and Sunday’s concluding stop.

Weighing 16,900 pounds, the steel was recovered from Ground Zero in the days after the attacks by first responders who rushed to the site. It has since become a powerful symbol of the nearly 3,000 civilians, firefighters, police officers, emergency workers and military personnel killed that day.

“For the past four months, communities across the country have welcomed this sacred piece of American history with incredible emotion,” Tunnel to Towers Chairman and CEO Frank Siller said in a press release. “Watching people stand in front of that steel, hugging it, praying over it, weeping, reminds me every single day of why we do this work.”

An August ceremony in Indianapolis brought together a color guard, a pipes and drums procession, the national anthem performed by the Voices of the Indianapolis Fire Department and an invocation from Indianapolis Fire Department Chaplain Mike Gatliff.

Indianapolis Fire Division Chief Tom Neal and Timothy Winslow, a retired major general and executive director of the Indiana War Memorial and Museum, spoke about the shared bond among the city’s first responders, veterans and the legacy of 9/11.

“Bringing this steel to Indianapolis, and to a museum that has stood for over a century as a tribute to American sacrifice, is deeply moving,” FDNY Lt. Jack Kielty, a Tunnel to Towers board member, said. “Indiana veterans and first responders understand what it means to serve.”

The Indianapolis gathering also underscored Indiana’s connection to the attacks. Nine Hoosiers died on Sept. 11, and Indianapolis Task Force One sent rescuers to Ground Zero. According to the Indiana War Memorial, six team members later died from illnesses connected to their work in the toxic environment.

Scott Nokes, a Marine Corps veteran and Tunnel to Towers recipient, told the crowd why it mattered to see the World Trade Center steel in person.

“Out of the 2,977 lives that were lost, there’s over 1,000 bodies that were never recovered specifically from Ground Zero in New York,” Nokes said. “Their souls are in that steel, and if you touch it, you feel it.”

On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Frank Siller and his family honored his late brother, Stephen Siller, by retracing his path. Stephen was a 34-year-old husband, father and firefighter who, after learning of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack, loaded himself with gear and walked through the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel toward the Twin Towers, where he ultimately gave his life.

“This morning’s walk through the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel was part of the conclusion of Steel Across America, a journey that began four-and-a-half months ago and carried a 21-foot, 16,900-pound World Trade Center steel beam more than 10,500 miles through nearly 40 stops across the country and back, stopping in more than 21 states,” Tunnel to Towers said in a statement. “For over four months, the steel has been a gathering place for communities to remember the events of September 11th, to honor first responders and veterans, and to ensure that a new generation understands the significance of what happened 25 years ago.”