An anonymous visitor delivered the news of the death of Osama bin Laden to the town of DeWitt’s 9/11 memorial monument, home to a column of steel salvaged from the wreckage of the World Trade Center.
“Justice has been served!” read the sign next to a small American flag dated May 1, 2011. “Thank God! Thank U.S. Military! Semper Fi.”
Visitors trickled in throughout the day, as the police department’s electronic billboard flashed the phrase, “Proud to be an American.” A garden of daffodils and tulips in bloom surrounded the beam, which weighs about six tons and was installed one year after the terrorist attacks.
While thousands of vehicles sped past on nearby Route 481, some drivers on Butternut Street slowed down in front of the memorial at Ryder Park, rolling down their windows despite the occasional rain.
Debbie Coleman of Norwich stopped by the memorial after taking her mother, Shirley Harp, to a doctor’s appointment in Syracuse.
“It seemed like the right time,” said Coleman, who had heard of the memorial but never visited.
Coleman said the news will be especially poignant on Sept. 11, 2011, which will mark the ten year anniversary of the attacks.
“All these years later, we’ll finally be able to say the mission was completed,” she said.
Fellow first-time visitor Jaimie Donnelly left the memorial with tears in her eyes.
On the drive from Rochester to her home in New Jersey Monday afternoon, Donnelly stopped in Syracuse for lunch with her sister and brother-in-law, who returned home from Afghanistan one month ago.
It was the second tour for U.S. Army Sgt. Joseph Birch, who had previously served in Iraq.
Donnelly said she was shocked when she awoke to the news Monday morning.
“I didn’t think this would ever happen,” she said.
The news touched Donnelly for more than one reason. Her father retired from his military career just months before the terrorist attacks, leaving an office in the Pentagon which was destroyed on Sept. 11.
“Justice has been served!” read the sign next to a small American flag dated May 1, 2011. “Thank God! Thank U.S. Military! Semper Fi.”
Visitors trickled in throughout the day, as the police department’s electronic billboard flashed the phrase, “Proud to be an American.” A garden of daffodils and tulips in bloom surrounded the beam, which weighs about six tons and was installed one year after the terrorist attacks.
While thousands of vehicles sped past on nearby Route 481, some drivers on Butternut Street slowed down in front of the memorial at Ryder Park, rolling down their windows despite the occasional rain.
Debbie Coleman of Norwich stopped by the memorial after taking her mother, Shirley Harp, to a doctor’s appointment in Syracuse.
“It seemed like the right time,” said Coleman, who had heard of the memorial but never visited.
Coleman said the news will be especially poignant on Sept. 11, 2011, which will mark the ten year anniversary of the attacks.
“All these years later, we’ll finally be able to say the mission was completed,” she said.
Fellow first-time visitor Jaimie Donnelly left the memorial with tears in her eyes.
It was the second tour for U.S. Army Sgt. Joseph Birch, who had previously served in Iraq.
Donnelly said she was shocked when she awoke to the news Monday morning.
“I didn’t think this would ever happen,” she said.
The news touched Donnelly for more than one reason. Her father retired from his military career just months before the terrorist attacks, leaving an office in the Pentagon which was destroyed on Sept. 11.
