A piece of concrete wall taken from beneath the World Trade Center site in New York City is now part of Utah’s Fallen Warrior Memorial. Karina Puikkonen reports on the nine-thousand pound sculpture.
Members of the University of Utah’s ROTC unveiled the polished concrete sculpture at the Fort Douglas Museum this morning. Raette Belcher chairs the memorial committee. She first heard about Utah as a possible home for the sculpture at a dinner where she met mothers of fallen Utah military.
"My heart just anguished with them, hoping that this could be done," she says. "So I left that dinner, determined to make a difference."
Belcher says she was emotionally touched by all those people who came out and physically touched the sculpture during the journey. Governor Herbert echoed her feelings.
"And words just don’t do justice for what you feel in your heart and your mind for those who go out and serve willingly to protect and preserve the freedoms that we sometimes too often take for granted," he says.
Museum Director Robert Voyles says this memorial is a place for all of us to remember our heritage and what families have gone through to ensure our freedoms.