The weathered steel I-beam juts into the early morning sky, a stark reminder of loss and a defiant showing of strength.
Twenty years ago, the beam had been a part of World Trade Center I, supporting the massive skyscraper in the heart of Manhattan. When terrorists attacked the towers on 9/11, it joined the tons of twisted metal that came from the fallen buildings.
Jeff Herrmann, owner of G.H. Herrmann Funeral Homes and Gardens at Olive Branch Cemetery, spent years trying to acquire the beam for the Sept. 11 memorial planned at the funeral home’s cemetery.
Unfazed by rejections, he finally secured the artifact.
“We’re proud to present that for everyone our age and older, who went through that. It means a lot to people,” Herrmann said. “Walking the servicemen out there on some of the private tours we did in the beginning — World War II vets, Vietnam vets, more recent vets, it was really something to see their faces when they react to it.”
The Freedom Plaza at the Gardens at Olive Branch Cemetery is unique in the symbolic ways that it honors those lost in New York, Washington D.C. and Somerset County, Pennsylvania. The beam from World Trade Center I serves as a centerpiece, mounted on a base with bronze plaques telling the story of the attacks.
It sits in a five-sided planter created from limestone salvaged from the Pentagon, and the planter is filled with soil from the field where Flight 93 crashed.
To have the items, and be able to display them in a memorial open to the public, ensures that future generations truly understand what was lost on that terrible day in 2001.
“Kids who weren’t born at the time, even a 19 year old, a 20 year old, they don’t really understand that day,” Herrmann said.
He and his wife, April, came up with the idea for the memorial in the years following 2001. He had lost some friends on 9/11, and had been inside the towers about a month before the attacks, so the tragedy deeply impacted him. Following Sept. 11, they held a funeral at their Greenwood chapel honoring those who had died.
The funeral home was planning to open its cemetery, and as that project came together, they wanted to include a Sept. 11 memorial.
On the fifth anniversary of the attacks, Herrmann was traveling through New York. While there, he read that much of the wreckage from the Twin Towers was being stored in the city.
“They were talking about the Port Authority having this steel being held in one of the hangars at (John F. Kennedy International Airport). But they couldn’t just give it away, since it was still technically part of a crime scene,” Herrmann said. “They had to track it and monitor it, but they were giving it away to charities and private foundations.”
The thought of acquiring a piece of the towers was intriguing, and Herrmann set about going through the process of securing a beam. They established the G. H. Herrmann Foundation for Fallen Servicemen, and put in an application for a piece of the towers.
But they never heard back from the port authority. Over the course of two years, it seemed their request would be denied.
So they moved forward under the impression they would have to do without a beam. Herrmann and the project architect were eating dinner at a Greenwood steakhouse, planning out the memorial. They sketched out the design on a bar napkin — a walkway up to a Pentagon-shaped planter, plus flowers and an eternal flame.
Herrmann still has that napkin framed in his office.
Working with local companies, they created the planter made from Bedford limestone. Sanjo Steel, a Greenwood company, created a girder to hold the eternal flame, which had been made by Brian Swersky, who built an identical flame at John F. Kennedy’s gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery, and at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in California.
Still, Herrmann kept asking and inquiring about a beam, going so far as tapping Sen. Dick Lugar for a favor. With Lugar’s help, they were approved.
“I got a letter from the Port Authority saying that we were granted permission for a beam,” he said. “We were crying tears of joy at that point.”
The unexpected approval was a pleasant surprise, but forced them to revamp their plans for the memorial to center it around such an important component. Designers changed the planter to hold the mounted steel beam.
Their stonecutter in Bedford mentioned they were in possession of wrecked limestone from the Pentagon following the attack there — would Herrmann want to use that for the memorial?
“I remember the guy on the phone saying they looked at our blueprints, and knowing what it was, they were trying to repurpose this. Would we be interested?” he said. “Of course we would. So just by chance, we ended up with limestone from the Pentagon.”
Now, with artifacts of the memorial representing two of the 9/11 sites, Herrmann wanted to incorporate the third site as well. He arranged to have a load of soil from Pennsylvania to fill the planter.
“We got lucky all the way around. Everything that had to go right went right,” Herrmann said.
The memorial was unveiled in 2011, and is open every day to the public. Often, on Sundays, people will come to the monument with chairs and sit in the peaceful ambiance.
On Sept. 11 each year, the cemetery hosts a ceremony in remembrance.
With the 20th anniversary of the attacks falling on Saturday, Herrmann and his team have arranged for a special event this year. Pastor Shan Rutherford of Greenwood Christian Church is set to deliver a prayer. Bagpiper Hope Oaks will provide music.
Representatives from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office will present the colors. Members of the White River Township Fire Department will ring a memorial bell. The Patriot Guard, in addition to local first responders who have family buried at the Garden at Olive Branch Cemetery, will also participate.
“It’s a moving ceremony every year, but this year is going to strike a new chord,” Herrmann said.
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The Remembering the Fallen memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at G. H. Herrmann Funeral Home and Cemeteries, 1605 S. SR 135, Greenwood. The service will feature a prayer by Pastor Shan Rutherford of Greenwood Christian Church, and participation by White River Township Fire Department, Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, Patriot Guard and musician Hope Oaks playing bagpipes.
The Edinburgh Fire Department invites the public to join them at 4 p.m. Saturday at 203 S. Walnut St. for a memorial service. The department will lead the public in 412 seconds of silence in honor of all the first responders who died on Sept. 11, followed by a prayer by the department’s chaplains. Free food will be available following the service.
Johnson County Professional Firefighters Local 4252 will host a 20th commemorative 9/11 memorial service Saturday at Emmanuel Church of Greenwood, 1640 W. Stones Crossing Drive. Coffee and doughnuts will be served starting at 8:30 a.m., with the program starting at 9 a.m. featuring a traditional fire service memorial ceremony with a garrison flag and ringing of a ceremonial bell. Guest speakers include Rep. Trey Hollingsworth, Sen. Todd Young and keynote speaker Maj. Gen. (retired) R. Martin Umbarger.
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