Sacred steel unveiled at Sept. 11 memorial in Flanders

Two pieces of steel recovered from the wreckage of the World Trade Center can now be found standing next to each other, resembling the twin towers, in Flanders.

The centerpieces of the Flanders Fire Department’s Sept. 11 memorial were unveiled Sunday in a special memorial service at Fireman’s Memorial Park.

Department chaplain Bob Bourguignon led the memorial, which paused for moments of silence at the time when the two planes struck the north and and then south towers on Sept. 11, 2001.

The fire department acquired the steel from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey earlier this year, and trucked it back to Flanders from JFK Airport with an escort from the Southampton Town Police and motorcyclists from the Patriot Guard and the Hampton Bays American Legion Post 924.

Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne Holst and Southampton Councilwoman Bridget Fleming, along with state Assemblyman Fred Thiele and county Legislator Jay Schneiderman and Flanders firefighters also spoke at the event.

Members of the Riverhead High School NJROTC participated as well.

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