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9/11 World Trade Center steel memorialized in Turlock

Pulled from the towers that the world watched fall 17 years ago, a piece of the World Trade Center now lives at the Turlock Fire Department.

The Turlock Fire Department unveiled a piece of history at their 9/11 remembrance ceremony on Tuesday morning, with a piece of steel from the World Trade Center.

"The number one takeaway is, don’t forget," Paul Arai, a Turlock firefighter said.

The Turlock FD revealed a piece of history, pulled from the towers that the world watched fall 17 years ago.

"We have a sacred piece of iron from the World Trade Center towers," Chief Robert Talloni of the Turlock Fire Department said.

Talloni has ties to the east coast. He lost friends in the September 11 attacks and he's spent the past three years working to bring a piece of it nearly 3,000 miles away to Turlock, California.

“The 343 firefighters that passed, that gave their lives, they went in to help others get out. That’s a pretty unique calling. And so we just wanted to honor them through this piece of steel," he said.

Talloni encourages everyone in the community to come by and not only see the 9/11 steel, but feel it too.

RELATED STORY: Turlock Fire to unveil piece of 9/11 history Tuesday

"There were hands that touched this steel before any of us, to help build this. And then there were hands that tore it down and dissected it to clean up afterwards," Tim Wilson, project coordinator for P&F Metals said.

Wilson was on the P&F Metals team that helped design the memorial.

“It transitioned from this sketch on this piece of paper and then it started to evolve from there," he said.

The 12x12 piece of steel is being held up by a firefighters hands in real gloves. It's sitting on a burned out helmet displayed on diamond plate.

"Thinking of that day and seeing that piece of steel really brings back the sacrifices that we all make everyday," Arai said.

After the ceremony, one by one...

"I think of my family and the families that lost a loved one," Arai said.

Firefighters went to take a moment aside with this piece of history.

"It reminds us of the costs...for doing what we do, but I wouldn’t want to do anything else. This is my calling. I love my job," he said.

It is a permanent reminder.

“It is a piece of history for not only for now, the present, and for our generation, but for generations to come," Talloni said.

The public can visit this memorial at their museum in Turlock Fire Station 1 during regular business hours.

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