A solemn piece of history BY MELANIE YINGST Staff Writer myingst@civitasmedia.com The World Trade Centers were a symbol of commerce, the center of trade around the world, towering more than 110 stories and stretching the eye toward the heavens. The 400 million pounds of steel within the towers were reduced to dust and debris in seconds on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. One small piece of the devastation now calls Troy home. The Miami Valley Veterans Museum obtained a piece of steel from the World Trade Centers on Feb. 24, 2012. Rusted, bent and distorted from its original form, the memorial piece will travel throughout the Miami Valley on a custom-made mahogany base. Also included in the memorial is a model of the twin towers Dayton-artist Michael Bashaw created to accompany the historic piece of one of the largest attacks on American soil. The stainless steel sculpture was then welded by approximately 10 Hobart Institute of Welding Technology instructors, all of whom are military veterans. The project has come full circle as the Troy-based company — especially its welding school, the Hobart Institute of Welding Technology — had multiple hands to help construct the World Trade Centers, by either training the welders themselves or its welding equipment, until the towers’ completion in 1972. The Miami Valley Veterans Museum’s executive director Stephen Larck said the museum wanted a piece of the World Trade Center’s aftermath to add to its collection.
STAFF PHOTO/ANTHONY WEBER
A small piece of steel from the World Trade Center now calls Troy home. “It’s going to add some publicity to make people aware of the veterans museum,” Larck said. “We are here to honor the veterans and military, but the piece will also help bring first responders to the museum since the Sept. 11 attack started the whole war on terrorism.” Larck said the museum received word from the Port Authority that a small piece, roughly the size of a soccer ball, would be available for the museum. “We needed a smaller piece for the second floor museum, and on Sept. 5,
2011, we were notified that we would indeed get a piece of the World Trade Center,” Larck said. “We had it in our possession in November (2011).” Once the museum had the piece in its possession, contact was made with the Hobart Institute of Welding Technology to think of a unique way to present the piece to the public. “We felt like we wanted to do something extraordinary,” said Andre Odermatt, president of Hobart Institute of Welding Technology. “It was a team effort.” Local artist Bashaw
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designed the all stainless steel towers, which has a mirror effect for the memorial display. The sculpture renderings of the towers are approximately 1/400 in scale. According to a press release, Bashaw, well-known for his sound sculptors and music, worked with staff at Hobart Institute of Welding Technology, to create the stainless steel piece, which is welded and polished to create the vision of the twin towers of the World Trade Center for the 9/11 artifact. “We are excited to be able to lend expertise for this project,” said Scott Mazzulla, director of planning and development at Hobart Institute, in a press release. ”It is interesting to watch the development of the artistic presentation and to know that Troy will be home to the artifact for many generations to come.” “It’s going to be a memorial and serve as something for people to reflect on,” Larck said of how the artifact will be incorporated in the museum. “To see the piece up close and personal — it’s definitely a reflective piece.” The artifact will be permanently displayed at the Miami Valley Veterans Museum, whose mission is to honor, preserve and perpetuate the memory and dignity of the men and women who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, Coast Guard and wartime Merchant Marines. The museum is a 501c(3) organization founded in 2009 and is located on the second floor of the Masonic Lodge, 107 W. Main St., Troy. For more information about the World Trade Center memorial artifact, visit the Miami Valley Veterans Museum’s website at www.theyshallnotbeforgotten.org for museum hours and updated information.