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| This month the United States and the world at large observe the one-year anniversary of the horrendous September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. September 2002 IBEW Journal
On this occasion, the IBEW especially honors the memory of our fallen brothers who perished in the attack. Tribute also is paid to the many union members who labored selflessly in the monumental rescue and recovery effort that followed. Twenty-one IBEW members from Local 3 and Local 1212 were among the more than 2,800 people whose lives were tragically lost in the attack on the World Trade Center. Our brothers brought honor to their trade and will always be remembered. Other IBEW members worked heroically in the weeks following the disaster to aid the rescue effort at Ground Zero, including installing the temporary lighting needed in the rescue. "Virtually all the cleanup work at the site [was] done by union tradesmen who worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week since September 11," Local 3 reported. On the day of the tragic attacks, the IBEW 36th International Convention was under way in San Francisco. Along with the entire nation and most of the world, the convention was struck by grief at the loss of life and horror at the unfolding events. [See "From Grief to Duty" and "Attacks Hit Home," IBEW Journal, Oct./Nov. 2001.] In the aftermath of the attack, International President Edwin D. Hill announced the establishment of an IBEW disaster fundset up by Local 3 to provide financial assistance to the families of members from Local 3 and Local 1212 who perished at the World Trade Center. The IBEW response was immediate and generous. "The outpouring of generosity, love and concern that has been communicated to us by so many has been overwhelming," said Local 3 President Dennis McSpedon, president of the IBEW Disaster Fund, NYC Inc. More than 4,000 individuals and organizations contributed in excess of $3.3 million to the fund. "Our Brotherhood, its employers [and other institutions] as well as children from across the country have responded and donated their heartfelt contributions on behalf of those IBEW members families whose loved ones went off to work on the morning of September 11 and never returned home," said Local 3 Business Manager Thomas Van Arsdale. On May 30, 2002, a poignant ceremony marked the completion of the recovery effort at the World Trade Center site. Two days earlier, on May 28, trade union members passed around a torch and cut apart the last standing steel column to be removed from the site. The 58-ton beam was draped in black and carried out on a flatbed truck, followed by a procession of union firefighters, police officers, and building and construction trades workers who labored in the 24-hour-a-day recovery work. The steel beam, inscribed with signatures of many workers and their unions, will be part of a memorial built on the Lower Manhattan site. We include on this page two links to stories from IBEW members about how their lives and those of their brothers and sisters were affected by the events of September 11, 2001.
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| In Memory of Brothers Lost The IBEW honors the memory of its fallen brothers whose lives were lost at the World Trade Center in the September 11 terrorist attacks. Two IBEW locals initially counted 20 members among the dead and missing, 16 from Local 3 and four from Local 1212. A 17th member from Local 3, Anthony Segarra, died November 28, 2001, from injuries sustained in the attack that were later identified as the cause of death. "Their names will be recorded with honor in the history of the IBEW," said President Edwin D. Hill. Our brothers will never be forgotten.
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