- The Bonneville County Fire District in Idaho unveiled a new 9/11 monument on Thursday.
- The monument contained the last piece of steel from the original Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.
- Ammon Mayor Sean Coletti urged Americans to renew the unity that was seen post-9/11.
AMMON, Idaho — Over 200 community members, many including first responders, gathered outside of the Bonneville County Fire District No. 1 to unveil its new 9/11 monument to honor those who lost their lives 24 years ago.
This is the second monument dedicated to the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives that day in New York to be constructed in Bonneville County, but this monument contains the last piece of steel from the remains of the twin towers.
Travis Snowder, co-chairman of the Heroes Defense Board of Directors, said before the unveiling that a lot of individuals worked to make this happen. Still, it was the work of Capt. Kevin Calhoun, of the New York Fire Department, that helped arrange for this last piece to be brought to Ammon.
"This piece of steel was the last piece of steel that was taken from the remnants of the towers. It was the last one. It will be the last one," Snowder said.
Fire chief for the Bonneville County Fire District, Jon Molbert, told EastIdahoNews.com that the district received that piece almost three years ago with the intention of building a monument.
While plans and concepts were being developed, Molbert said the piece had its own section within the fire station, featuring a plaque to allow his firefighters to reflect on and remind themselves of why they're there.
"It's a huge honor. … We were the very last department in the country to get to get a piece of steel," Molbert said.
While 9/11 has always been a day of solace and unity, Ammon Mayor Sean Coletti spoke about how, amid the tragedy, it brought people together to support one another.
"The next day, Sept. 12, is often remembered as an incredible day of national renewal," Coletti said. "It was as if suddenly our country realized what was really important, not the rat race of work and money and play, but family, friends, neighbors, country, duty and honor."
Coletti further spoke about how, recently, he fears that many Americans have forgotten what it felt like to live through 9/11 and the days that followed, and called for a renewal of that spirit once again.
He challenges those who drive or walk by the monument to reflect on how Americans came together after the events of 9/11.
"We can do so much better. We must do so much better," Coletti said.
