Northwest Ohio 9/11 Memorial

"Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts," said President George W. Bush following the attacks on 9/11. "The victims were in airplanes or in their offices: secretaries, business men and women, military and federal workers, moms and dads, friends and neighbors. Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror."

The Northwest Ohio 9/11 Memorial, located at the 180th Fighter Wing in Swanton, Ohio, was unveiled following the completion of construction phase 1 on Sept. 11, 2016. Airmen with the 180FW, service members and civilians across the country marked the 15th anniversary of 9/11, when nearly 3,000 innocent lives were lost during the attacks.

"This memorial represents a day in American history that every American remembers to the minute of what they were doing at that time," said Col. Kevin Doyle, commander of the 180FW. "That day changed American lives forever."

The memorial is one of just three known in the United States to include relics of all three impact sites of the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001: beams from the World Trade Center, limestone from the Pentagon and soil from the Pennsylvania field where Flight 93 crashed. Nearly 3,000 glass ingots, one for each life lost, were hand-crafted and incorporated into the memorial. The memorial is essentially a clock face with podiums marking the time of each significant event. Every year at 8:46 a.m. on Sept. 11, the flag pole will cast a shadow through the steel beams of the World Trade Center, marking the time of the first plane's impact.

"This memorial honors those American lives lost that day on which American freedom came under attack," said Doyle. "[It also honors] the lives that have been lost since [9/11] in the fight against terror."

"The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge -- huge structures collapsing have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness and a quiet, unyielding anger," said Bush. "These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong. A great people has been moved to defend a great nation." 

 The shadow of the flagpole falls across the clock face of the Northwest Ohio 9/11 Memorial located at the center of the 180th Fighter Wing in Swanton, Ohio, on the morning of the anniversary of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, marking the exact time the first plane struck the north tower of the World Trade Center. The monument memorializes the loss of nearly 3,000 lives during the attacks and since. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Shane Hughes)