KAYSVILLE, Utah -- Residents of Kaysville gathered on the 12th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks to dedicate their own 9/11 memorial.
The memorial featuring a bronze statue of a fireman holding a child can be found at the Utah State University Botanical Center in Kaysville.
The memorial was created to remember three people with Utah ties that were killed on 9/11 in the attacks in New York City and Washington D.C. Those people are Mary Alice Wahlstrom, her daughter Carolyn Ann Beug and Brady Howell.
The memorial also displays bronze plaques naming all the servicemen and servicewomen from Utah who have been killed since 9/11.
The sculptor of the bronze statue is Utah artist Angela Johnson. In a press release, Johnson released this statement about the memorial:
“In contemplating the magnitude of creating a memorial of the most devastating act of terrorism in my lifetime I searched for the deepest core message I could share through my work. The very act of being willing to put ones life at risk to save another is one of the highest and most noble of all human virtues. The symbolic figure of the fireman rescuing a little girl is meant to evoke in the hearts of those who view this sculpture, gratitude for those who possess that virtue. As the fireman holds the little girl in his arms the impact of human trauma is in his eyes, his face as he looks up into heaven to plead for the little child and for a nation who had become victims to horrible cruelty.
Of all the images I could have turned to in memorializing 9-11, I chose subjects everyone could relate to. The purpose of this memorial is to not only remember the tragedy of 9-11, but to remember that each of us, every day, has the responsibility of respecting life and doing what we can by interacting with our fellow man in ways that lift and not destroy.”
