Five bells rang over Fenton Saturday morning as part of a time honored tribute, paying respects to the 412 fallen brothers and sisters--first-responders who answered the call just after 9:00 on the morning of September 11, 2001.
On display feet away at the Fenton Fire Hall, a piece of the darkest day in American history: a girder pulled from the still smoldering ruins of the World Trade Center. The relic seemed to underscore the devastating power of an act that toppled the Twin Towers, ripped thousands of families from their loved ones and altered the trajectory of world history.
Two of the junior firefighters on staff here were born after the towers fell. They never knew the scenes of fear and chaos that unfolded live two decades earlier as the nation looked to New York in stunned silence.