SEQUIM — A truck carrying an 843-pound World Trade Center artifact is expected to arrive today in Sequim in time for the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Police Chief Bill Dickinson, Officer Randy Kellas and Detective Darrell Nelson were traveling with the 3-foot piece of metal through the mountains of Idaho on Saturday and should arrive at the Museum & Arts Center’s DeWitt building, 544 N. Sequim Ave., at noon as planned, the chief said.
“We’re going to try to make central Washington tonight,” Dickinson said by phone.
“We should be able to do a three- to four-hour drive in the morning to get us there by noon tomorrow.”
The artifact will be on display at the DeWitt building from noon until 3 p.m. today.
It will be displayed at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4760, 169 E. Washington St., from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
A permanent location for the artifact has not been selected.
Dickinson said it has been a long trip for them all, though certainly worthwhile.
It started Sept. 1 when they began traveling in Nelson’s truck to New York to pick up the artifact.
What stands out in his mind, the police chief said, is how much the terrorist attacks have impacted people wherever they travel.
“There is still a great deal of sentiment in this country about that attack on our country 10 years ago,” he said.
Dickinson said they gain admiration from those who discover what the dented piece of metal is from and what they plan to do with it.
“Mostly, they just want to touch it,” he added.
Before they returned home, the officers stopped at Ground Zero, the Pentagon and the United Flight 93 crash site in Pennsylvania.
Dickinson said they found the United Flight crash site to have the most impact on them.
“It was very, very touching,” he said, referring to the transcripts of voice messages made by passengers to loved ones after the hijacking.
“It gave you a very precise idea of what people were facing and the terror that they went through.”
Although the memorial site itself is still in the works, Dickinson said, he hopes the artifact will help ensure that the attacks and those who died are not forgotten.
“It doesn’t really matter where you go in America, people are extremely cognisant; they still remember,” he said.
“And we all hope that building a memorial will make sure that the next generation will remember also.”
Former Police Chief Bob Spinks applied for the artifact before he resigned in July 2010.
It will not be the only piece of World Trade Center wreckage on display on the North Olympic Peninsula today.
A 9/11 memorial will be dedicated today at 2 p.m. at Francis Street Park in Port Angeles.
The park is located along the waterfront at the north end of Francis Street.
The memorial features a 1,400-pound steel beam from the Twin Towers.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
