Aberdeen Receives World Trade Center Artifact

Excitement and curiousity took over as the small but heavy box was wheeled into the Aberdeen Township Municipal Building on a rainy Nov. morning.

Inside of the box was Aberdeen Township's very own piece of American history - an artifact from the World Trade Center left over from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

A solemn silence fell over the employees at town hall as the box was cut open and the packing materials were discarded, fully revealing a 147 pound, "I" shaped chunk of steel with a brutal past.

A township administrator placed his hand on the artifact.

"I'm not very religious, but to touch it and know what it is to what it was...," he said to no one in particular, trailing off with his hand still on the cold steel.

Aberdeen Township Mayor Fred Tagliarini began the process of acquiring a World Trade Center artifact of the Freedom Tower and the New York City 9/11 Memorial. On the tour, he learned that municipalities could request to receive a piece of the towers. Tagliarini and the township council wrote a letter to the Port Authority, and were grateful to be notified that their request had been accepted. Finally, on the morning of Nov. 16, they retrieved the artifact.

"As we said , we should never forget. And what better way to remember than have [the steel] at the seat of our government so residents of Aberdeen for generations to come can see it," Tagliarini said.

The township had the choice between picking it up or having it delivered. Tagliarini chose to pick it up in person along with Aberdeen Township Deputy Chief of Police Rick Derechailo.

"Rick and I thought it was more of a personal touch to pick it up," Tagliarini said. "We thought it was too impersonal to have it shipped."

The morning of Nov. 16, the pair drove to Kennedy Airport, where all of the remaining artifacts are stored, and picked up the artifact. 

Although it is currently stored in a historical case outside of the court room in town hall, the township eventually plans to build a new Sept. 11 memorial that incorporates the steel and the remembrance stone alongside the building.