25 Years Later: A 9/11 Memorial Hidden in Plain Site

It has been 25 years since the worst terrorist attack on American soil. We’ve seen the eyewitness videos. We’ve watched the documentaries. We’ve even watched dramatized films set around September 11, 2001.

For those of us who are middle-aged and older, we watched it unfold live on our television screens. We remember where we were when...

It was just after 6:00 AM, and I was getting ready for work with the TV on so I could monitor the morning traffic report. I saw one of the towers billowing smoke, followed by footage of a plane striking the second tower.

My first thought was, “Whoa, someone actually got footage of it!”

It hadn’t yet dawned on me that I was watching the second strike happen live. I continued getting ready and stepped back into the bathroom. When I returned to my room, the television was showing a split screen of New York and Washington.

That was when I realized our reality was about to change.

Hidden in Plain Sight

Since that day, memorials have been erected throughout the country, including one right here in our small town of Martinez.

It isn’t an obvious find while walking around downtown. It sits a little off the beaten path, yet alongside one of our major thoroughfares.

If you’ve ever waited for Amtrak or stopped to smell the roses along Marina Vista, you may have passed it without realizing what was there.

The story of how the memorial came to Martinez is interesting in its own right.

According to a 2019 Martinez Gazette article, then-Councilmember Mark Ross began trying to acquire pieces of the World Trade Center just a few months after the attacks. After months of calls and few leads, he finally reached someone in then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s office. He was told the opportunity to obtain the remaining pieces was about to end and that getting them to Martinez would be nearly impossible.

Then came an unexpected Martinez connection: Joe DiMaggio.

Ross mentioned that Martinez was the birthplace of the New York Yankees legend. As it happened, the woman helping him was a DiMaggio fan. With her assistance, Martinez was able to secure two pieces of steel from the World Trade Center debris, reportedly hand-picked by New York firefighters.

Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Captain Darin Peterson later traveled to New York to arrange for the steel to be shipped home to Martinez.

The pieces eventually became the centerpiece of the 9/11 Memorial along Marina Vista. The memorial was completed and dedicated on September 11, 2006, five years after the attacks.

Today, the twisted steel stands within the Memorial Rose Garden in honor of the innocent victims who died that day.

It is a quiet place. Perhaps that is what makes it so meaningful.

The memorial serves as a reminder of the loss of that day, but also of the strength and courage that followed—and of the way communities came together in the aftermath of something so unimaginable.

Martinez Remembers

This Friday, the City of Martinez will hold its annual 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony at the memorial.

The public is invited to gather beginning at 8:30 AM for a moment of silence, the playing of bagpipes, and remarks from City officials.

Twenty-five years later, there are fewer and fewer people who remember watching that morning unfold in real time.

The memorial quietly remains. Hidden in plain sight. Still asking us to remember.

This year’s Remembrance Ceremony will be held Friday morning at the 9/11 Memorial, with the public gathering beginning at 8:30 AM.

Resources:

Martinez Gazette. “Martinez Remembers 9/11.” September 15, 2019. https://martinezgazette.com/martinez-remembers-9-11/

Martinez Chamber of Commerce / City of Martinez. “September 11 Remembrance Ceremony.” https://martinezchamber.com/