Tallahassee 9/11 memorial to be dedicated

Emerging from a “bureaucratic nightmare” that lasted over a decade, Tallahassee’s 9/11 memorial will finally be dedicated today. The local memorial, outside the Capital Area Chapter of the American Red Cross, includes a steel beam from the World Trade Center’s south tower. 

The beam is what’s called the gnomon of a “sundial that will shine down on timestamps throughout the day, from the plane striking the north tower at 8:46 a.m. to (World Trade Center Building 7) collapsing at 5:20 p.m.,” the Tallahassee Democrat explained last year. “Off to one side will be a pillar with eight plates etched with the names” of those killed in the attack.

Michael Terhune, a retired Tallahassee firefighter and Iraq War veteran, has pursued building the memorial for decades after the Sept. 11, 2001 tragedy in Manhattan, at the Pentagon and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. From “the way we act at airports” to the way we work, “the world has changed” because of what happened on 9/11, he told WTXL last year. 

“We really have to think about that day and where we have come” since, Terhune added. The dedication will be at 8:30 a.m. The memorial is outside the Red Cross’ building at 1115 Easterwood Drive.