{"id":18324,"date":"2026-06-27T04:04:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T04:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=18324"},"modified":"2026-06-27T04:04:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T04:04:13","slug":"beam-of-the-world-trade-center-visits-huntington-beach-ahead-of-25th-anniversary-of-9-11-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=18324","title":{"rendered":"Beam of the World Trade Center visits Huntington Beach ahead of 25th anniversary of 9\/11 attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 16,900-pound steel beam recovered from the rubble of the World Trade Center\u2019s South Tower in New York made its way to Huntington Beach this week as part of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation\u2019s nationwide tour commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.<\/p>

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The tour launched in New York City\u2019s Lower Manhattan on May 2, with the steel beam traveling through the country, already hitting states such as Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas and Arizona, before making a stop on Friday, June 26, at SeaSalt at the Beach, a beachside restaurant in Huntington Beach, where around 500 people visited to pay their respects.<\/p>\n

In attendance were several New York City Fire Department firefighters who were at Ground Zero as the two towers collapsed, including retired FDNY battalion chief John LaBarbera, a 12-year board member of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople seem to connect when they\u2019re up there, and they\u2019re touching it,\u201d he said of the massive beam.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a population out there that wasn\u2019t born, that does not know the story,\u201d added LaBarbera, who was a captain with Engine Company 240 in Brooklyn on 9\/11 and lost two of his own men, numerous friends and his 22-year-old cousin. \u201cThat\u2019s where the mobile exhibit comes in, it\u2019s an educational tool.\u201d<\/p>\n

The foundation was formed by the family of Stephen Siller, a 34-year-old FDNY firefighter assigned to a specialized rescue and hazmat unit, who died responding during the attacks.<\/p>\n

According to his son, Stephen Siller, Jr., who was only 9 months old when his father died, the organization was created to ensure that his five children would not forget their father\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey knew we were gonna grow up without him. They wanted to make sure we knew why,\u201d said Siller Jr.<\/p>

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The foundation later expanded beyond 9\/11 commemoration into direct aid for catastrophically injured or ill veterans and fallen first responders, providing mortgage-free homes and building customized smart homes.<\/p>\n

Among the recipients is Scott Nokes, a 44-year-old New Jersey resident and former corporal in the United States Marine Corps who served two tours in Afghanistan before becoming a firefighter. In September 2016, Nokes was hospitalized with severe stomach issues and suspected pneumonia, went into septic shock, and woke up weeks later blind and a double amputee.<\/p>\n