I-beam from World Trade Center site provokes emotional reactions

Julie Abbott touched the I-beam, 6,500 pounds of rusted steel.

Then she walked over to her husband and started crying.

"This should remind people another attack should never again happen," Abbott said through tears.

This is not just any slab of steel. It once was part of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, which were destroyed by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001. On loan from the Atomic Testing Museum, it is on display at the Fremont Street Experience for the attack's 10th anniversary, which is Sunday.

And Abbott is not an American. She lives in West Sessex, England.

However, she and other visitors from foreign nations showed Thursday that one doesn't need to be an American to feel pain and even residual anger over what happened that fateful day, when 19 terrorists hijacked four airliners and turned them into missiles, killing almost 3,000 people.

Abbott and her husband, Simon, holiday in the United States often and have visited ground zero several times. They even donated money to the famed Fire Company No. 10, which lost more firefighters than any other on a day in which 343 firefighters and emergency medical technicians lost their lives.

England is no stranger to terror events, and with typical stoicism Abbott has advice for Americans when it comes to dealing with terrorists.

"Don't let them beat you down; otherwise you couldn't go anywhere. You wouldn't leave your home," Abbott said.

"If we kowtow to the terrorists, they've won, and that's what they must never have, a chance to win."

Another visitor from Britain also was moved by the I-beam.

"It puts a lump in your throat," said Irene Eade, from Kent, England. "It's just amazing and so emotional. You see it (the attacks) on the telly, but to see it here and (it) really reminds you of all those people."

Nick and Vira Kukrydz of Sidney, Australia, said seeing the I-beam prompted memories a decade old.

"It's a very significant symbol," Nick Kukrydz, said. "I remember when it happened. Awful. It was just awful."

Not all who touched the I-beam Thursday crossed an ocean to do so. Henderson firefighter Donovan Kutsenda brought his children downtown to show them the artifact. "I want them to know about 9/11."

Kutsenda said his wife was two months' pregnant with their eldest daughter the day of the attacks.

"They need to know about it. It's a difficult thing, but it's still something that needs to be remembered," he said.

"It looks intimidating," said Clayton Angel from Columbus, Ohio.

"I can't imagine that thing tumbling down with the rest of the building. It really puts perspective to this whole situation."

Dianne Verbout of Tampa, Fla., bit her lower lip as she crossed her arms and hugged herself. Looking at the I-beam, she flicked a tear away as she talked about the thousands of people who lost their lives that day.

She knew not one of them; she grieved for all of them.

Contact reporter Doug McMurdo at dmcmurdo@review journal.com or 702-224-5512.