World Trade Center steel


You may have already seen this. It landed in my email box last week. I don't know the original source unfortunately, but I thought it important enough to also pass it along.

There's a new warship called the USS New York. It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center and is the fifth in a new class of warship designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. The USS New York will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.

The scrap steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite, Louisiana, and used to cast the ship's bow section. When it was poured into the molds on Sept. 9, 2003, Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was on site, said: "those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence. It was a spiritual moment for everybody there."

Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the "hair on my neck stood up. It had a big meaning for all of us. They knocked us down. They can't keep us down. We're going to be back."

The ship's motto is: "Never Forget."

The USS New York is one of several ships in the San Antonio class of amphibious transport dock ships and is designed to transport and land troops, supplies, and equipment such as amphibious vehicles and helicopters.

It's one of three similar ships that are being built and named in remembrance of The Attack on America. In addition to the USS New York, the USS Arlington will be named because of the location of the Pentagon, which was hit by American Airlines flight 77. The USS Somerset will be named after the county in Pennsylvania in which United flight 93 crashed after being taken over by hijackers.

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