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Marvin Davis
Rock Center
The iron workers assembling the last few floors of One World Trade Center say that their work above New York City’s skyline is more than just a job.
“It’s a part of history. It’s a part of rebuilding you know, part of putting lives back together to show people that the spirit won’t be broken,” iron worker Marvin Davis told Harry Smith in an interview broadcast on NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams.
Davis is the general foreman at the World Trade Center site. He is part of the generations of Mohawk Indians who have built New York’s famous skyscrapers. Both Davis and his son are helping construct One World Trade Center, formerly called the Freedom Tower.
“It’s a fortress. It’s a better built building than I’ve been on ever,” Davis said. “With the concrete and the steel, you know, both of them together combined, you know, this thing is, I think is impenetrable.”
The original One World Trade Center was destroyed in the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001. In the 10 years since 2,753 people perished in attacks on the towers, a team of more than 200 iron workers clad in fluorescent vests and hard hats have nimbly built One World Trade Center. The building now soars more than 1,244 feet. The tower is a couple of weeks away from surpassing the height of the roof of the Empire State building.
“We’re right there,” said iron worker Kevin Murphy. “In the next couple of weeks, we’re there. That’s going to be another big, you know, special day. Pretty much from here on up, everything’s special, you know?”
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Murphy is one of several iron workers who lost someone they knew on Sept. 11, 2001. The completion of the building will mark an emotional moment for Murphy, the lieutenant superintendent of steel erection at One World Trade Center.
“Just to be part of something that’s going to be the tallest building in the nation and a monument to all the people that lost their lives down here. As an iron worker, you couldn’t ask for a better place to work,” Murphy said.
John Makely/MSNBC.com
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John Makely/MSNBC.com
As the workers ascend farther into the heavens each day, placing and setting beam after beam, scrawled on some of the beams are the names of those who perished on 9/11. The building, made of steel and glass, is also full of emotion.
See more images from 1 World Trade Center
“Way more emotion than we’re used to. We’re iron workers. We don’t show our emotions well, but around here, you can’t help it, you know. You see families come. You’re looking down at the memorial. You see everybody looking at the memorial. This is definitely a very emotional place,” Murphy said.
In a matter of months, the tower is expected to “top out.” That’s what it means when the last steel beam gets put in place. After the spire is added, One World Trade Center will be the tallest building in the United States at a symbolic 1,776 feet.
For Murphy, the construction of the World Trade Center towers is in his blood. His father helped build the first World Trade Center towers.
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Murphy came to Ground Zero to clean up in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks.
“[I] didn’t really talk about it with anybody when it first happened, because it was so intense, just to be down there and then to come home and have to answer the questions about it, but it was definitely surreal and the things we saw, nobody should really have to see,” Murphy said.
Murphy’s wife, Heather Murphy, said her husband’s chance to build One World Trade Center is helping him heal.
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Kevin Murphy
“Having been there right when it happened, I didn’t know if he would ever come out of that. He was so sad for so long, so the fact that now he’s in a place and bringing it back is so big, so huge. It’s kind of the best part about it. He gets to rebuild it. He doesn’t just have to have the memory of what it was,” said Heather Murphy through tears.
Murphy’s fellow iron worker, Eric Hunt, also helped sift through the smoldering debris 10 years ago.
“I was down here doing some burning one night and I was burning this big gusset plate open and I started on one end and worked my way to the other end and when the steel opened up, there was two ladies laying there holding hands,” said an emotional Hunt.
Hunt, a veteran iron worker who helped repair the World Trade Center after the 1993 bombing, said he’s thankful to be building One World Trade Center.
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Eric Hunt
“In the beginning, it was sad and every day, you had to overcome that, but as you get into it and you make it through your days and you spend a month, a year, whatever, it becomes a sense of necessity. You know, this had to be done,” Hunt said.
Hunt said that as they build higher and higher, the iron workers feel a “little bit of glory.”
“Every man here has put a sense of pride into this building and it’s just heavy duty, has armor. It’s modern day pyramids,” Hunt said.
John Makely/MSNBC.com
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Nothing against the tower but, it is being built to make money and the workers are working a job for an income. End of story.
Well, yeah. Why else would they build it?
There's already a beautiful memorial.
You know, some Americans always have and always will diss the things that other Americans hold dear. For everything like this tower that is considered an accomplishment and brings out emotional reverie in some there will be critics. We shouldn't be surprised anymore, and maybe we should allow the critics their say and the critics should allow the supporters theirs - but that will never change either. That's why this is America. Let's hope it never changes, for better or for worse. No American should be silenced except Sarah Palin. OK, kidding. Sort of. Oh, and Ann Coulter. Again, kidding. Not really.
How about Rachel Maddcow?
How about Bill Maher and Ron Stewart?
Got a little choked up reading the accounts of the men who cleaned up the rubble after the towers fell. This new building is beautiful and a nice testament to engineering. Good job, construction guys. I'm proud of you.
The foreman made the comment, that he pretty much thinks it is "impenetrable"! On April 15, 2012 it will be the 100th Anniversary since the sinking of an "unsinkable" ship! Don't let over confidence and sometimes arrogance, lead everyone to think that it can't happen! Yes, it has been engineered and built stronger than it was before, but that does not mean that it can't be destroyed, they have just ensured that it will be a lot more difficult to do, if tried again.
You just need to step out of America to know how biased the media here is. I used to be so blind till i did, American media tells you only what they want you to know! There's so much conspiracy, there's no way a building like that can come down to crumbs because it was hit by a plane. Google 9/11 mysteries. There are videos(in parts). So many things just do add up and it doesn't take an intellectual to know that!!
girl789.....Michael Moore would give you a wet sloppy kiss. What's more disgusting is you would probably enjoy it.
It's pathetic how our nation has been duped into believing third world infidels simply brought down structures with planes. The cut pillars, the prep work, watching the Homeland Security levels. We have truly become a nation full of sheeple and goyum. The fact is planes may have been used to create the fantasticly staged event but the truth is a nuclear weapon was used in the sublevels to bring these two bad boys down...oh and WTC 7 too since nobody ever wants to talk about that one collapsing from what the media said was due to "jet fuel spraying onto the building and catching fire" and yet it came down demostyle as well. cheers to you girl789 for not being a moron like the rest of these idiots.
Cheers to girl789 and BobdaBuilda for a good laugh today. Just make sure when you go outside that your pointed aluminum foil hat is sitting properly on your head so all that radiation from the twin tower nuke bombs won't interfere with the alien radio waves inside your inner ears
are u seriously still talking? go be a moron elsewhere and don't forget to watch american idiot i mean idol when it comes on. pffft...fool. smh.
Hello??????Earth to BobdaBuilda......go spread your conspiracy theories with your OWS pals so you can all have a mental mast&%bation yank
Truther Alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Boda - where is the nuclear fallout from said weapon? Or was this a double-secret probation type nuclear-warhead that leaves no radiation behind?
A true testament to the American spirit. All the naysayers and negative people cannot diminish this feeling.
*don't
While amusing, it is disheartening to read some of the ridiculous comments made here by those who prove without any doubt that America has been dumbed down to levels that have contributed to making this country what it is today. Especially funny is how these clueless idiots hide behind their computer screen to anonymously post comments and views that a 1st grader would laugh at.
How come you never see all of them saying this stuff in public?
I'm sorry, but I'm less than impressed. They knock down two towers, so we "show them" by rebuilidng ONE? What the hell? We should have not only rebuilt the SAME towers the SAME height, but then we should have connected them at the top with an AIRSTRIP, and PURPOSEFULLY flown airplanes onto that building all day every day. THAT is how you show up idiotic terd-world inhabitants. you say "hey thanks for the idea" and rub it in their faces, that we are the greatest, most intelligent, and most dedicated group of life to ever exist. One tower is a LET DOWN. It not being the tallest in the WORLD is a LET DOWN. I fell we are not memorializing properly, we are letting those who died down. We need to aim higher, and way more focus should have been placed on this. I love america, don't be confused. I'm just disappointed in our cheap reaction.
We didn't rebuild it for them. We rebuilt it for us.
I love it; the rebuilding of the towers is as much a tribute to those who perished in that cowardly act as it is a tribute to the indomitable spirit of the citizens of the United States. It doesn't matter how tall the towers are, it's the fact that they are going up is what really matters. We are at war with those who hate us for what we are, and we always will be, because they won't tolerate any people group who don't share their ideology. I remember where I was during the 9/11 attacks; I was a drill instructor at Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, IL, and my recruit division was just completing the final challenge before graduation. They were up all night engaged in various training events, and were in the process of completing their last event when another staff member called us in to witness the live newscast. I first started watching on TV just after the first plane had struck, and those of us watching were trying to figure out what could have happended. After the second plane struck, we knew exactly what was going on. After learning of the attack on the Pentagon and the failed attempt that apparantly targeted the White House, I felt an uncontrolled anger, couple with a deep sense of loss for our country. In a moment, I reached out and punched a steel beem in the facility that I was standing in, just prior to my recruit division completing their "Battle Stations" event. My "kids" had just finished an exhausting 36 hours of grueling training, and were about to undergo one of the most emotional days of bootcamp, when they are called "Sailor" instead of "Recruit", and I had to tell them that their country had just been attacked. I can tell you that this group of young men could not wait to get out there and avenge their fallen fellow Americans. So kudos to those who are putting the towers back up; I can only imagine their extreme sense of pride and satisfaction while working on this building project, which is so much more than a building project. While it's true that we need to rely on God, who promises to heal our land if we only trust Him (2 Chronicles 7:14), this building project is a testament to the spirit of the people of the United States of America. May God Bless the USA!!
You had me up until the "God" part. So close!! It's God that keeps getting us into these messes!!
Oh, that's a very foolish and dangerous thing to say. Sometime, do a very objective study of the Old Testament Jews; God used many things to get their attention, such as allowing them to be conquered and hauled away as prisononers, or lesser things like losing a battle or two. While I'm not necessarily saying that 9/11 was God's judgement against the U.S. for our abandonment of Him, it wouldn't be inconsistent with the examples in the Bible. If you remember, just after the attacks, people did look to God, but it didn't last long. We are every bit as stiff-necked as the Jews every were.
It does matter how tall the towers are. If they'd have placed a flat 3x5 marble plaque there (the smallest gravestones at a cemetery), you'd be PISSED.
the memorializing tombs of the pharoahs would have had the same effect if they fit in the back of a pickup truck?
Size DOES matter. Rebuilding LESS than what they destroyed is EMBARASSING.
But weren't the Muslims hitting our towers in the name of God? Aren't we killing people (both guilty and innocent) in the name of God?
I disagree with the view that the peoples involved in destroying the Twin Towers are "cowards". That was one of the ballsiest things I have ever seen in my life, and it gives me the feeling that we must effectively take control of some extremely serious enemy!
DEATH TO THE ENEMY!
NavyChief24-Your message was amazing. My husband is in the Navy. 9/11 attacks are the reason he signed up. 2002 was the best year of his life he said. He felt a calm but excited feeling that he was going to help fight for this country. He said these workers that are building this building probably have the same feeling running through their veins. It's a feeling that no one can ever take away from you. And the God part, I loved. Some people just need to realize that there are people out there that believe in God. And for many, He helps us get through our long nights of deployments away from family, our tears we cry when a fellow "family member" of our squadron passes fighting in the line of duty, He helps us heal.
That's still one tower I don't want to be in.
I'd like to tell myself that I'd be honored to worker in the tower, but I'd pass! I'd feel like I was deployed to a war zone or something. I'd probably get a call from my mother everyday!
Well....hmmm.. let's hope our government doesn't decide to nuke this one like they did the last ones.
Even if you filled it with Left Wing Liberal Socialists that would not stop Obama.
Another brain washed idiot who helped make Michael Moore part of the 1%...lol
the only brain washed idiots are individuals who believe throwing planes into buildings will cause them to collapse the way they did. my role is to not try to convince u because you cannot convince a moron and are too far gone into this societies media corruption and believing what helps u sleep better at night. nobody wants to believe their own govt would just cast them aside but the truth is we are all expendable for a greater cause. it's a shame ur IQ level isn't up to par.
You are exactly the same type of idiots in college that walked around with "question authority"and "act up" lapel pins on your jackets because you didn't get enough attention at home as a child. You are the same idiots that are now the OWS protesters and bitch about why you can't find a job for $70K with your Interpersonal Communication degree. There are people if life who "make things happen" and "watch things happen"......But you jerks fall into the category of "I wonder what happened"....Good luck with your fantasyland life. I hear Disneyworld in Orlando is always hiring.
trilliondollar, I've gone to your Newsvine home page and read your comments. I notice that you're intolerant of anyone who has opinions that differ from yours and that everything coming out of your mouth is basically garbage. You'd make an excellent radical Muslim, communist or Nazi.
Your comments aren't worth reading. You've been added to the top of my Ignore list. Please feel free to reciprocate.
Sichuan I ALSO went to trilliondollar's Newsvine home page and read his/her comments, and his comments are about the same topic his/her point of view stays consistent- there's nothing wrong with that. You are the one that can't tolerate anyone with a different point of view, and your comments aren't worth reading.
Kudos to Seal Team 6 for getting Justice
Kudos for the Second Amendment
Now, let's clean up DC and take the trash to the curb.
Si, let's get rid of a lot of Republicans in Congress!
and the LIBTARDS
trilliondollar, I noticed that janye called Republicans "Republicans" yet you refer to the Democrats as "LIBTARDS"
You're a part of what's wrong with this country. You should crawl back into the sewer you came from.
Destroying is easy. Building is hard. And they kept on building. Congratulations, guys and gals! You have done it. I wish you well.
If you're going to build something "average" to memorialize something extroadinary, why not just put up a plastic plaque?
Again, there should be an AIRPORT at the top of this building, and we should fly airplanes in and out daily. THEN we have shown TRIUMPH, and memorialized those that died properly. Builidng an average office building is insulting to their memory.
well done guys!ill visit America in summer, definitely ill stop by to see the new tower.
I hope the new building structurally is built like a rock for the height of the building is sure to attract the attention of the forces whom easily destroyed the old structures with amazing efficiency.
I'm speechless. Tears are the only thing I can express as I read this article. A new start. No one will ever forget September 11, 2001.
Ten years and it still is not completed due to all the bickering politicians and lawyers getting rich..SHAME!!
I think that is so sad that people are fussing back and forth over something that is suppose to be a good thing....Yall should be ashamed of yourselves!!!!
hey trilliondollar jet fuel burns at a temprature that cannot melt steel you moron look up the scientific facts before you run your mouth. the steel at level 65 did not melt neither you idiot are you people that stupid to beleive these buildings fell due to fire. it would take a different kind of fuel to melt steel. you have all been duped due to your lack of knowing the melting point of steel. and the burning temprature of a1 jet fuel.
You don't get people on your side by calling them idiots and morons.
If Americans wanted to show their resolve, they would have built brand new World Trade Center towers that looked just like the original towers. This would have sent the statement to terrorists "You knock it down and we will build another, stronger building in it's place".