MARC JACOBS
Hutch Post
ANTHONY, Kan. — A memorial in the south-central Kansas community of Anthony preserves the memory of those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks while telling the story of a small town’s compassion for a fallen New York City firefighter’s family.
Located in Memorial Park, the Anthony 9/11 Memorial contains artifacts connected to all three sites attacked that day. The monument incorporates three steel beams recovered from the World Trade Center, a 250-pound limestone block from the section of the Pentagon struck by American Airlines Flight 77 and soil and ashes from the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93 near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The memorial grew from Anthony’s effort to help following the attacks. Then-Mayor John Schott contacted a Bronx firehouse that had suffered heavy losses and asked whether the community could assist one family.
Anthony was connected with the family of New York firefighter Joseph P. Spor Jr., who died while helping others at the World Trade Center. Spor was 35 and left behind his wife, Colleen, and four children ranging in age from 6 months to 6 years.
Residents adopted the family and provided cards, gifts and other support. The community also formed a lasting relationship with firefighters from FDNY Engine 88, Ladder 38 and Rescue 3.
The idea for a permanent memorial developed after firefighter Joe Huber visited Anthony in March 2002 to thank residents for supporting Spor’s family. Arrangements were later made to obtain steel from the World Trade Center wreckage. True Value transported the steel from New York to Anthony at no cost, delivering it in October 2002.
A local volunteer committee designed the memorial, which was built without tax dollars. Private donations, corporate contributions and community fundraisers paid for the project.
The memorial was dedicated Sept. 11, 2004. Firefighters from New York, Kansas and Oklahoma participated in the ceremony, which also honored law enforcement officers, emergency medical workers and others who responded to the attacks.
Kansas lawmakers later designated the Anthony monument as the state’s official 9/11 memorial. Its Kansas limestone, brick and artifacts serve as reminders of the nearly 3,000 people killed in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
The memorial also includes bronze plaques explaining the attacks and Anthony’s response. At night, beams of light illuminate the monument and rise behind two limestone pillars in tribute to the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers.
The Anthony 9/11 Memorial is located in the southeast corner of Memorial Park, just east of the intersection of Kansas Highway 2 and Main Street.