The World Trade Centers were built with more than 200,000 tons of steel, and now eleven years after the disaster, Crazy Horse Memorial near Custer is home to a small piece of the towers.
The piece is about 23 inches tall and 16 inches wide, behind it stands two pillars that represent the Twin Towers, and next to it is the memorial's inscription.
"It's a way to thank the victims, the first responders, and the families of those who died," said New York City Fire Department retired NYFD Battalion Chief Larry Connors.
Connors was on scene after the towers fell, "It was shocking," and he says the new memorial at Crazy Horse sends a message. "I think they'll remember what a tragic day that was, how people suffered, how the country suffered," said Connors.
There are nine rivets that have been broken off and eleven that still remain, standing for 9/11 and the remarkable thing is that this has not been altered.
"It's one of those just wonderful coincidences where you have of course the building held together with those large rivets and in this case those buildings came down in just eleven seconds," said Crazy Horse Board of Directors Member Sidney Goss.
He says he's very excited to have a piece of the towers at Crazy Horse, "Today is an incredible day for us," said Goss.
He says the memorial can still unite Americans. "There weren't German flags and there weren't Hispanic flags, and there weren't Native American flags there were just the American flag on 9/11 down there after the disaster, this is a small remembrance of that," said Goss.
As well as a remembrance to the 2,977 people who died and the first responders who risked their lives.
© KOTA-TV. The piece of the tower is about 23 inches tall and 16 inches wide, behind it stands two pillars that represent the Twin Towers, and next to it is the memorial's inscription
