Beams of Hope

On the eve of the seventh anniversary of the September 11th attacks, two four ton steel beams to be used in construction of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum have returned home to New York.

The two beams have been to 25 cities in 25 states to raise money for the memorial foundation, and gave Americans a chance to pay their respects to the victims of 9/11 by writing their names on the beams.

“These beams should be for all Americans…This wasn’t just an attack on New York, it was [an attack] on America,” said Naidie Bompane, who works as a paralegal in lower Manhattan.

Bompane was working three blocks away from the World Trade Center during the attacks: “I couldn’t go back to work for three weeks.”

When she walked by the beams on her way to work this morning, she had to stop. “I wanted to cry,” she said.

The beams, located at the north end of Battery Park, had been attracting attention since Wednesday night when they arrived, according to security guard Felipe Pia.

Pia was in charge of watching the beams since midnight. He said people started coming out immediately, taking pictures and staring at them in awe.

He said he felt privileged just to be guarding the beams.

Camille Grey, an employee at the Aon Corporation, was teary-eyed while looking at the beams.

Grey lost 176 of her co-workers on September. 11th when the second plane hit the south tower. Grey, who had the day off work that day, was at the beams because she “had to be there” for her co-workers.

She didn’t think the beams were enough of a tribute to the victims, and wanted to see the towers rebuilt for them. She was upset about the time it was taking to build the Freedom Tower, which even Mayor Michael Bloomberg told The Wall Street Journal today is “frustratingly slow.”

Mayor Bloomberg used his speech at the beams this morning as a platform for his four-part plan to get the Freedom Tower and 9/11 memorial and museum construction back on track.

The beams will be available for signing until 7 p.m. tonight and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. tomorrow. They will also be outside Giants Stadium from 2:00 p.m. to the end of the first quarter of the New York Jets opening home game on September 14th.