World Trade Center beam transported to Ft. Pierce

New York City firefighters escort beam to Trident house

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A group of New York City's firefighters is taking a voyage by bicycle from Manhattan to Florida. The group started out on bikes last Wednesday from New York City for the Ride for the Trident House.

The group is riding to the Trident House in Fort Pierce, which is a complimentary refuge in south Florida for families of Navy SEALs killed while serving for the United States.

The journey is to pay respect to the victims of September 11 but also to deliver a very special gift to the Navy SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce -- a beam from the World Trade Center.

Tuesday, the group transporting the beam took a pit stop in Jacksonville.

"It's really a small way for us to say thank you to the Navy SEAL community. Within 24 hours of the towers getting hit on that horrible day, Navy SEALs had boots on the ground, in Afghanistan and ready for go and fight for what happened," said NYFD's Kevin McCormick. "It's just our small way to tell them we care about you guys and we care about your sacrifices."

The group of NYC firefighters are biking 1,400 miles in 18 days, starting at the World Trade Center memorial and ending at the National Navy SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, where they will present a beam from the World Trade Center as a way of saying thanks.

"This journey in itself has been very emotional, empowering journey for us, You know the response to the public, the response from the Navy SEAL community has been overwhelming. It's something that really started out very small, at a kitchen table in the firehouse and its really started to become very big," said McCormick. "People are telling us that they see us on Twitter and Facebook, and that tells us that what we're doing, it means it's taking shape so that's what we're very happy about."

"We've also had the opportunity it was actually an honor to meet some Navy SEAL operators along the way and by nature they're very professional but also very humble. So for us to be able to thank them in a public forum is very gratifying for us as first responders," said NYFD's Kiernan Wilhelm.


About the Authors:

Tom Wills joined Channel 4 in 1975 and has co-anchored Jacksonville's highest-rated evening newscasts for more than 40 years.