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Sumter remembers Fire Department will host service honoring victims of 9/11 attack
BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com
BY ADRIENNE SARVIS adrienne@theitem.com Many people remember exactly where they were on Sept. 11, 2001, and the events that took place, but it may not be as easy to remember to think of those who lost their lives that day. Sumter Fire Department has taken steps to make sure the community never forgets those people by creating two monuments, each showcasing a piece of steel from the World Trade Center complex. One monument is displayed in front of the downtown fire department building at 129 E. Hampton Ave., and the other is displayed at Sumter Fire Department Training Facility at 470 McCrays Mill Road. The monuments each display one 75-pound steel beam and were unveiled in 2011 during the 10-year anniversary of the terror attacks. The beams serve as a reminder to the Sumter community of the civilians and first responders who died that day. The fire department received the steel from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees requests for artifacts recovered from the debris of the collapse of the north and south towers. Of the 200,000 tons of steel used to construct the World Trade Center complex in the late 1960s, 840 pieces of steel were recovered, most of which can now be found in memorials or museums in all 50 U.S. states and several countries: Canada, the United Kingdom, China, Ireland, Germany, Brazil, Afghanistan and South Korea. Today, fewer than 30 pieces of steel remain, with requests still pending. Fire Chief Karl Ford said the department sent a picture of the monuments to
Death spurs calls for U.S. 378 crossing
KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM
One of two monuments placed by Sumter Fire Department, each including a section of bent steel beam from the site of the 9/11 attack on New York’s World Trade Center, is seen. The public is invited to a memorial service today at 8:30 a.m. at the downtown fire station at 129 E. Hampton Ave. the port authority after the structures were created. He said the monuments are a reminder of the sacrifices made by the first responders that day 14 years ago. “We’re very honored to have it,” Ford said about the monument outside of the downtown building. Sumter Fire Department Battalion Chief Joey Duggan said the monuments allow the public to observe a
piece of history that serves as a reminder of the 343 firefighters who lost their lives on 9/11. “It shows how precious life really is,” he said. Duggan encourages the public to spend about 30 minutes of their morning with members of the fire department during a 9/11 memorial service that will be held at 8:30 a.m. today at the downtown fire department building.
MANNING MARKS 9/11 A Patriot’s Day Ceremony to honor 9/11 victims will be held at 10 a.m. today at Manning Municipal Park Gazebo on the corner of North Church and East Rigby streets, next to the Manning farmers market area. Retired U.S. Army Col. Alexander Conyers will be the speaker.
Local leaders say they are working on a solution to the problem of pedestrians crossing the U.S. 76/378 bypass, a situation that led to the death of Terrica Butler on Sept. 5, but local residents say leaders of the city, county and legislative delegation need to make it a priority. “Everybody is passing the buck,” said Barney Gadson in a call to The Sumter Item on Thursday. “If this is something the city and the county wanted done, they could get it done. They could have put it on the priority list. We elect those officials to be our representatives and to lead the public in those areas.” Funeral services for Butler will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Trinity Missionary Baptist Church, 155 Wall St. The Sumter High School senior’s death has led to calls for action to end the circumstances which led to the incident. Residents who live in the neighborhoods north of the bypass say they have little recourse but to cross the busy highway — often on a daily basis — to reach services on the other side, and then walk back across six lanes of traffic to get home. State Rep. David Weeks, DSumter, said the local legislative delegation has asked South Carolina Department of Transportation to come up with recommendations to solve the problem, which has repeatedly led to tragic results. “Our delegation has been in touch with SCDOT, and we have asked them to do an assessment of all the crossings on the freeway,” he said. “They are in the process of doing that per our request.” He said officials with the department have told him they will begin an assessment focusing on areas where pedestrians have been crossing that road to see what recommendations they can make.
SEE CROSSING, PAGE A6
Poinsett Electronic Combat Range hosts joint training BY SENIOR AIRMAN JENSEN STIDHAM 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Special to The Sumter Item The 20th Operations Support Squadron Poinsett Electronic Combat Range hosted the U.S. Army Special Operations Command during joint terminal attack controller training in Wedgefield from Aug. 31 through Sept. 3. The training was conducted by USASOC JTAC’s with help from the 20th Fighter Wing to conduct close air support controls in a joint ArU.S. AIR FORCE SENIOR AIRMAN JENSEN STIDHAM / SPECIAL TO THE SUMTER ITEM my-Air Force environment. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Damian Tolfree, 1st Special Forc“It’s very important to do traines Command, 3rd Special Forces Group joint terminal ing like this,” said Sgt. 1st Class aircraft controller, prepares a small handheld satellite Peter Quarleno, 1st Special Forces communication antenna at Poinsett Electronic Com- Command, 3rd Special Forces bat Range near Wedgefield on Sept. 1. Group JTAC. “The more you get
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out and get on the radio and control aircraft, the more comfortable and better you get at it. When we are in a static training environment like this and not getting shot at, it’s a lot easier to get better at this job.” Poinsett was used as one of three strike locations for the training because of its ability to receive live munitions. “It works here because we have an air-to-ground range just a few flying minutes from Shaw where local Air Force F-16s can drop and shoot inert ordnance, along with several observation points that the JTACs can use to conduct live type 1 and 2 controls,” said Onelio Renedo, 20th OSS range operations officer. “The short distance to the range allows about 45 minutes of range time for the aircrews and
DEATHS, B6 Estell W. Simon Samuel Murray Sr. Jarvis O’Neal Vance Matthew Lee Toney George E. Goodman Margaret H. Bennett
Terrica M. Butler Jessie Jackson Cindy H. Timmons Margaret Taylor Herbert Lee Shannon Thomas Bracey
controllers, making the most of the training time.” Because of the close proximity, the 55th Fighter Squadron was selected to participate in the exercise to fulfill training requirements. “The 55th FS is being used because they are currently working on six weeks of close air support training,” said Capt. Joseph Winglemire, 20th Fighter Wing ground liaison officer. “What I do for them is coordinate all of the JTACs and scenarios, which I create based on real world locations, and then I brief all of the pilots participating in the exercise.” Along with training requirements, the JTACs called in both live and dry runs, consisting of the
SEE TRAINING, PAGE A6
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