CLOVIS, Calif. (FOX26) — This September will mark 25 years since the 9-11 attacks that changed our country forever.
For weeks and months, tributes poured out from all over the world, but one tribute stands, all these years later, on the West Coast — in the City of Clovis.
More than 2,900 miles away from New York City, you’ll find the second-largest 9-11 memorial outside of the Big Apple, standing in the middle of a Clovis industrial park, where it’s been home to remembrance ceremonies every year since.
Amazing America 250: California 9/11 Memorial (Photo: FOX26 Photojournalist Bert Montelongo)
It was created by executives at what was, at the time, Pelco headquarters.
“Having a surveillance company as a business, we did a lot of business in New York City,” said Julie DeBenedetto, Past President & Founding Member, The California 9-11 Memorial. “You had to do something, right? That was the attitude. We had to do something.”
In the span of two months, the first two pieces were in place — a granite stone explaining the impact of the attack on the United States, and a massive 110-foot-tall flagpole.
“Which represents the 110 stories of the World Trade Center,” said Jim Stemler, Founding Board Member, The California 9-11 Memorial.
Since then, the memorial formed a non-profit, adding a replica Twin Towers with the names of first responders killed, a replica of the Pentagon, featuring the names of those killed when a hijacked plane crashed into it, including Commander Otis Vincent Tolbert of Lemoore, and a tribute to flight 93 and the passengers — including Fresno State graduate Todd Beamer — who took on hijackers with the phrase “Let’s roll” before crashing into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Each, with an explainer—for good reason. “College graduates were not even born when this happened,” said Stemler.
“We came up with the idea to add a QR code to each display,” said DeBenedetto.
Then, there are the helpers, who ran into the danger, risking it all, including Officer Moira Smith, the NYPD’s only female officer killed on 9-11.
“Where it’s placed, she’s looking at her name at the top of the list on the World Trade Center,” said Stemler.
There is also a Marine, wounded warriors, even the service dogs — nearly 300 who helped with search and rescue, therapy and, later, comfort, together, sitting under a living memorial.
A clipping from a tree found at Ground Zero, severely damaged — that’s grown to be a symbol of resilience and survival.
Much like this memorial that, as time passes, works to teach others about the events of that day, so they, too, will never forget.