Huntington Beach 9/11 Memorial
It was an honor for Huntington Beach City Council candidate Edward Pinchiff to attend the Huntington Beach 9/11 Memorial Dedication on Patriots Day, September 11.
The 9/11 Memorial is dedicated to the first responders and victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania that killed 2,996 and brought down the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.
The HB 9/11 Memorial has a pentagon shaped base with two slabs of black granite representing the twin towers set in a cement wall. The words “We Will Never Forget” are set in brass letters contained on the cement wall between the two towers. The monument includes a plate and a section of steel beam from the World Trade Center. The base of the memorial has the names of the four airline flights lost in the attacks engraved on its sides.
“The Huntington Beach 9/11 Memorial serves as a testament to the courage and heroism of first responders as well as a remembrance of the victims,” said Edward Pinchiff. “We will never forget.”
It was a very moving ceremony with speeches, a flyover by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s Air Support Unit, the Orange County Fire Authority Pipes and Drums, singers from the Huntington Beach High School Academy for the Performing Arts, and police and fire honor guards. The ceremony also included the posting of a flag that was flown at One World Trade Center. Guests included police officers from New York.
Huntington Beach 911 Memorial Five Bells
The ceremony also saw the “Striking of the Four Fives.” This is part of fire service tradition to honor fallen comrades. The tradition originated with the Fire Department of New York City in the 1800s.
New York City Fire headquarters communicated with firehouses using a system of bell commands and telegraph. Headquarters would transmit five bell strikes repeated four times when a firefighter died in the line of duty or when an important person died.
The Huntington Beach 9/11 Memorial contains a plaque discussing the memorial’s purposes: To Honor the Past including the fact that “countless acts of courage, bravery, unselfishness and love took place as people from all backgrounds risked their lives trying to save others;” To Serve the Present the memorial “offers a place for remembrance and reflection;” To Secure the Future the memorial “offers a way for all of us to remember the events of that fateful day.”
Huntington Beach was connected with the 9/11 response when days after the attacks, the Huntington Beach Police Officers Association raised funds to assist their fellow officers in New York City. Officers from Huntington Beach traveled to New York to present the funds and participated in recovery at Ground Zero.
Huntington Beach 9/11 Memorial
On September 10, 2011, the FDNY and the Port Authority Police Department of New York and New Jersey presented Huntington Beach with two pieces of steel from Ground Zero.
At this presentation, the Huntington Beach Police Officers Foundation and the Huntington Beach Firefighters Association pledged to build a fitting memorial in Huntington Beach that incorporated those pieces of hallowed steel to commemorate the loss of life and recognize the sacrifices made on that fateful day.
The Building to Remember – 9/11 Memorial Committee was formed with the goal of designing the memorial, raising private funding for construction, and overseeing the building. The Huntington Beach 9/11 Memorial Committee worked for 5 years to bring this project to fruition.
The 9/11 Memorial is located near the entrance to the Huntington Beach City Council Chambers.
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