Locals Remember 9/11

Rocky Hill hosts a rusty, twisted piece of steel from the World Trade Towers, which a sculptor

has merged into a work of art in honor William Fallon Jr., who died in the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001.

His widow, Brenda Fallon, regularly visits the memorial her family commissioned, which is

placed in Panicaro Park, near the Crescent Avenue and River Road intersection.

Brenda Fallon of Rocky Hill at the 9/11 memorial to her husband, William Fallon Jr.

To Brenda and her son Chris, the concrete tower of the memorial represents Bill as the husband and father. “Bill was our strength, and our support during his life. And, even now, his strong, honest character shapes us," Fallon said in an interview with The Montgomery News.

“We knew that Rocky Hill would get a piece of steel, but we didn’t know what we were going to get until we got it,” she said. Her sister and brother-in-law did the design, she said.

The monument has much symbolism. The concept behind the sculpture is that the column and the stone represent the two towers of the World Trade Center.

The stone column represents Bill and all those who perished. The steel beam is tortured, and juxtaposed to the clean lines of the stone column to present the unadulterated violence of that day.

Rocky Hill's 9/11 Memorial

“The steel beam represents all of us, the ones who are left to stand here with the burden of courage upon us,” Fallon explained.

The two towers fell. And, even though they did, the white concrete tower in Rocky Hill’s 9/11 Memorial rises from the rubble. The steel beam, was not destroyed. It survives. It is with

us today, gracefully twisted in an upward spiral, gently touching the tower.

On September 11, members of the community gathered at Panicaro Park at 8:30 am in remembrance of William Fallon Jr. and the other victims of the 911 tragedy.

The sculptor did not want to protect the beam. He said with age, “it will rust, it will bleed, and it will weep, and its tears will cover the engraving.”

A brief public service in remembrance of 9/11 was held at the Montgomery Volunteer Fire Co. #2’s firehouse at 529 Route 518, Skillman.

The brief ceremony at their memorial included remarks and a moment of silence to honor the lives lost and forever changed on September 11, 2001 in the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and on United Airlines Flight #93 over Shanksville, PA. ■

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