Mayor Barlow unveils new City of Oswego September 11th Memorial
Mayor Billy Barlow, Oswego Fire Chief Randy Griffin and Oswego Police Chief Phil Cady celebrated “Patriot Day” today by unveiling a new memorial in the City of Oswego in honor and remembrance of the September 11th, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon building in Washington D.C. and United Airlines 93 which crashed in rural Pennsylvania. The memorial, located in front of the Oswego Fire Department Headquarters on the city’s east side, features a mounted steel beam from the World Trade Center, recovered from ground zero following the attack.
In 2010 the John D. Murray Fire Museum requested a piece for the City of Oswego. Following approval in 2015 the beam was transported to Oswego, escorted by police and fire vehicles to its temporary home within the museum building behind the Eastside Fire Station. It remained there, draped at all times with an American flag until mid-August 2020 when Mayor Barlow, Chief Griffin and Department of Public Works Commissioner Tom Kells started construction of the new memorial. The mounted steel beam is illuminated and accompanied by a small fountain structure assembled by the Oswego DPW, on display in front of the fire department’s east side station.
“Every year, the City of Oswego holds a special silent procession through our downtown and a touching memorial ceremony to honor and remember those we lost on September 11th, 2001. Now, we’re proud to construct and unveil a permanent memorial the Oswego community can use to appropriately honor and remember those lost, and recognize those, including first responders, who acted heroically that day,” said Mayor Billy Barlow. “I invite the Oswego community visit our new memorial and use the display as an opportunity to honor those we lost, recognize our first responders, and to remind ourselves what means to be an American and to live in this great country of ours,” Barlow said.
Chief of the Oswego Fire Department, Randy Griffin, said “this memorial stands as a testament of the service of those lost that day and hopefully a reminder to all of us of the common bond we all share as Americans.”
Chief of the Oswego Police Department, Phil Cady, said “Oswego has always been supportive of law enforcement and other first responders so it’s only fitting that our community pays tribute to first responders and victims from the attacks of 9/11. I thank Mayor Barlow, Chief Griffin, Commissioner Kells and the members of their respective departments for their work on this memorial and for the wonderful outcome. Generations to come will know that the Oswego Community has not forgotten September 11, 2001.”
The City of Oswego also held an annual silent procession through downtown Oswego and a brief memorial ceremony attended by the public and other officials. The Oswego Fire Department Headquarters, along with the new memorial, is located at 35 East Cayuga Street, Oswego.
