NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – Twenty years ago Monday, workers removed the last load from ground zero, marking the formal end to recovery operations at the site following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Rescue, recovery, and relief workers toiled for nearly nine months—from the hours after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, to the end of May 2002.
A solemn ceremony Monday marked the end of the efforts two decades ago on May 30, when the final steel beam from the original World Trade Center—known as “The Last Column”—was put on the back of a flatbed truck, covered with a U.S. flag and removed from the site.
A moment of silence was held at 9:36 a.m. for the anniversary Monday, which fell on Memorial Day. Among the officials at Monday’s ceremony were Gov. Kathy Hochul and Reps. Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney.
“For 260 days, people showed up here exposed to toxins and contaminants,” Hochul said. “The private contractors, the city agencies, everybody showed up and made sure that everything that was drawn from this site was honored.”
Twenty years ago, John Feal was a demolition supervisor at ground zero. He’s since become a fierce advocate for 9/11 responders as they deal with the health effects of the toxic air they breathed.
“To see so many familiar faces here today is special, because there are faces that I don’t see anymore, and I’m curious and I wonder if they passed away from a 9/11-related illness,” Feal said.
In those decades since, the story has turned to one of health challenges and political fights for those responders.
As the average age of 9/11 responders approaches 60, Feal said the community has been decimated.
Feal, founder of the FealGood Foundation, has attended nearly 200 funerals.
“There’s not a day that goes by that I’m not reminded of somebody suffering,” Feal said. “The first 20 years were really hard on us—the next 20 years. You know, we talk about the last piece of steel. I hope they make a shrine of the last 9/11 responder. Because that’s coming.”
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