Valley 9-11 Memorial Rises

Valley 9-11 memorial rises

Twin Towers icon stirs emotions in workers, residents
By Karen Rauen Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers

GREEN BAY — The identical stainless steel towers, stretching 30 feet, shimmered as a crane lifted them, one by one, from a flatbed trailer and guided them to their position in a monument. “It’s going to be beautiful, isn’t it?” Deborah Kalishek of Green Bay said Monday as the towers were mounted on a base shaped like the Pentagon. Located near the Neville Museum just south of the Ray Nitschke Memorial Bridge, Green Bay’s new Sept. 11 memorial is just more than two weeks shy of completion.Engraved granite carrying the names of victims who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City, Pennsylvania and Virginia, including 16 people who had ties to Wisconsin have yet to be mounted on the memorial.The monument has been three years in the making, said George Ecker, Stockbridge resident and vice president of Fox Valley-based nonprofit organization WTC 9/11 Pen-T Memorials.“This is an exciting time,” Ecker said.Green Bay’s memorial is the first of several the organization hopes to erect across the country. A 34-inch piece of Ground Zero debris will be situated in front of the base. “I think it’s nice to have these kinds of memorials and this is a good place for it,” Kalishek said.

Remembering the Sept. 11 terrorist attack triggers emotion for the Green Bay woman. “This is the biggest tragedy on U.S. soil,” Kalishek said. On a construction lift, Kevin Hildebrandt, a risk-control manager for Town of Menasha-based Miron Construction, helped guide the tower into place on the Pentagon-shaped base.Monday morning’s work was more than a job for the Fremont man, who recently returned from a 13-month stint in Iraq. He said he was honored to be able to help with the installation. “I could not turn this opportunity down,” he said. As he helped guide the towers into place, he said “Let’s do it right, let’s get it done right for the people who paid the ultimate price.”

Karen Rauen writes for the Green Bay Press-Gazette.