Steel Beams from World Trade Center at Florida School
On Tuesday, steel beams salvaged from the World Trade Center were delivered to Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida. This visit marked a poignant moment, as it’s where former President George W. Bush first learned about the attacks on September 11, 2001.
The beam’s arrival is part of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’s “Steel Across America” tour, which honors the upcoming 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Andy Card, the former White House chief of staff who notified President Bush about the second plane hitting the World Trade Center, was also present at the ceremony.
On that tragic day, President Bush was in a classroom when Card whispered the shocking news to him. “I walked up to the president,” Card recalled during the event. “I whispered in his ear, ‘The second plane has hit the second tower. America is under attack.'” This moment, broadcasted live on television, has become etched in the collective memory of the nation.
Card returned to the school alongside former second-grade teacher Sandra Kay Daniels, who was in the classroom when the events unfolded. “Just being on this campus, just remembering when I came here and whispered in the president’s ear that America was under attack, instantly brings back the feelings, emotions, duty, and honor of that day,” he said.
Daniels shared her enduring memory of that morning, stating, “That day changed not only the students and staff at Emma E. Booker Elementary School, but the world and our community.” She noted the impossibility of escaping the significance of the events that transpired there.
In a dedicated section of the school’s library, there’s a display honoring September 11th, including an original copy of the book “Pet Goat,” which the students were reading when Bush received the news. This Sarasota stop is part of a national remembrance tour, as communities across the country prepare for the 25th anniversary of the attacks.
During the ceremony, local officials, first responders, and Tunnel to Towers Foundation members attended, commemorating the legacy of FDNY firefighter Stephen Schiller, who perished in the attacks. Former students, including Natalia Jones-Pinckney, who was just a few meters away from Bush that day, also made their way back to Emma E. Booker Elementary School.
Reflecting on the experience, Jones-Pinckney shared, “I don’t know if I understood at the time that that was actually happening. I was excited to meet the president.” Now as an adult with her own daughter, she realizes how profoundly that day has affected her life. “Being there and reading to the president shaped our lives,” she added. “That’s something we’ll never forget.”
The steel beams now serve as a space for reflection, allowing participants to honor the memory of the victims and first responders who lost their lives during the September 11 attacks.
