By Clark Merrefield
Steel was the skeleton, the inner strength, of the World Trade Center buildings, and befitting the name of the complex, that steel was supplied and manufactured all over. Floor trusses came from Alton, Ill., and St. Louis, perimeter columns and core materials from Japan, and some of the core steel from Scotland, England, Los Angeles, and Lynchburg. The World Trade Center was assembled over the course of nearly 20 years and became known for the iconic Twin Towers, slowly accepted but ultimately revered members of the New York City skyline. For roughly 30 years that steel stood in one spot as the framework of two massive structures where many people spent more time than in their own homes. On Sept. 11, 2001, that steel melted and fell, exploding into a debris cloud that blanketed New York City. But the final resting place for the steel from Japan, Europe, and America wasn’t meant to be a pile of debris. This is what became of that steel and rubble, in a diaspora that sent pieces to Punjab, Oro Valley, New Orleans, and even inside the bodies of first responders.