Seventeen years ago on Septemer 11, 2001, America watched in horror as two hijacked commercial airliners slammed into the World Trade towers in New York City, an act of terrorism that killed nearly 3,00,000 people and injured many thousands more.
9-11 remembrances are planned around the country, including here on the First Coast.
One of them will be aboard the USS New York, which is homeported at Naval Station Mayport.
Command Master Chief Benjamin Hodges said most Navy ships have a mini-museum that honors the vessel’s namesake. But that’s not the case with the USS New York, which has a much more extensive reminder of its namesake.
“The entire ship from the stern up to the bow and every space in between is covered in memorabilia and memories that have been donated to the ship over the years,” said Hodges.
Hodges said that includes the seven-and-a-half tons of World Trade Center steel in the ship’s bow.
“All the way through firefighting helmets and first responder uniforms that were worn at Ground Zero, we also have WTC glass on board. And we also have a piece of Flight 175 that actually hit one of the towers.”
United Flight 175, was carrying 56 passengers and nine crew members when it was hijacked as it headed from Boston to Los Angeles.
It struck the south tower of the World Trade Center at 9:03 on the morning of September 11, 2001.
Contact reporter Cyd Hoskinson at choskinson@wjct.org, 904-358-6351 and on Twitter @cydwjctnews.
