LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) – As Americans remembered the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks nationwide, a permanent memorial was dedicated locally in honor of those lives lost and the lasting ramifications of that day.
Hundreds of people attended the official opening of the Allen County 9/11 Memorial, located in the southeast corner of the Greater Lima Region Park and Amphitheater. The memorial features three artifacts from the day of the attacks.
The memorial was spearheaded by a group of citizens who worked diligently to obtain the artifacts and raise private donations to make the project a reality. Organizers invite the public to visit the site to reflect and to teach their children and grandchildren about the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
Jeffrey Rosebrock, president of the Allen County 9/11 Memorial Foundation, said, “The younger generation doesn’t see the impact that it had, only those that were alive and present and old enough to realize what was going on. I mean, it changed the face of history for this country, and we’re still feeling it today. I want that perspective to be shared with them. It’s never going to make it to the to them at the level it did everybody else that experienced it, but it’s going to give them a perspective. They’re going to be able to touch it. They’re going to be able to see going to be able to see it. They’re going to be able to look at the the artifacts and realize the gravity of what happened that day.”
The artifacts include a portion of a beam from the Twin Towers, a slab of limestone from the Pentagon and a rock from the Shanksville, Pennsylvania, crash site.
