GIBSONBURG, Ohio — Saturday marks 20 years since the 9/11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.
You can pay your respects or teach your kids about what happened that day right here in our area.
It was five years ago, on the 15th anniversary of 9/11, that the village of Gibsonburg came alive.
On the back of a truck rolling into the village came a piece of history that would link this Sandusky County town to that dreadful day in New York.
It's a 7,000 pound, 36-foot long piece of the antenna of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
This was the last part of the second tower that would escape from view after terrorists hijacked and flew two planes into the World Trade Center.
"It's huge in that sense and it's one of only two that is known to be in existence. And we have one of them right here. The only other one we know of is at Ground Zero," said Gibsonburg mayor Steve Fought.
Fought is proud that the village was able to secure the antenna as the centerpiece of the village's 9/11 memorial that was dedicated in a ceremony on September 11, 2016, at the Public Safety Service Memorial at Williams Park.
"We knew we wanted a big piece, not a small piece. And everything we tried to do here is to show our respect and honor in a big way," Fought said as he showed off the memorial.
The sculptor, Jim Havens, made it rest on a granite replica of One World Trade Center, the new building that rose from Ground Zero.
"It's the symbolism of 'we fell and we're rising.' So it being on an angle symbolizes us continuing to rise as a country," Fought added.
The memorial is bordered by concrete in the shape of the Pentagon, another site attacked by terrorists on 9/11.
There are newspaper front pages of that day and the faces of the 343 New York City firefighters killed in the collapse of the towers, plus a tribute to Flight 93 and its hero passengers in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Mayor Fought and village Administrator Marc Glotzbecker helped it come together.
"It's very humbling. You always take the time to look and you're always glancing over at it or stopping or walking around it," Glotzbecker said.
While you need to show respect, even silence inside the memorial, they want it to be a hands-on experience.
They want you to touch the antenna to really feel how strong it was and to sit on two benches that mark the footprints of where the Twin Towers once stood.
Back at the memorial, the metal on the antenna is twisted. It's rusting. The image is hard to look at, knowing what it was part of.
But when you look closer at the faces, you realize you have to be here.
You have to remember what happened, what the victims gave up, and how the country came back.
"You know, history isn't always pretty. There's good and bad, and I think it's important that people understand the bad things that happen as well as learn from them," Glotzbecker said.
"It's just a crazy turn of events, for that to happen and then to be a part of putting this [memorial] together and making sure that the next generation never forgets," Mayor Fought said.
Glotzbecker added, "My daughter will be 20 on September 25. She was a couple weeks from being born on 9/11 so it's very important. We all say never forget. It's important that we don't forget."
Gibsonburg will mark 20 years with their annual remembrance ceremony at the memorial on Saturday, Sept. 11 at noon.
