Remembering the Fallen: 9-11 Tribute above Interstate 10 in the Pass

The Hammer brothers and about 30 other people with Fire Memories Museum of Banning made sure Wednesday that people on Interstate 10 remembered those who lost their lives during the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Monte, Doug and Brad Hammer and their helpers drove 10 fire engines dating from 1948 to the South San Gorgonio Avenue overpass above Interstate 10 on Wednesday.


They adorned the engines with American flags and waved to motorists on both sides of the overpass, unleashing a cacophony at times from people who beeped, tooted and leaned on their horns in response.

The Hammers' aim each Sept. 11 is to remember the 343 firefighters killed during the 2001 attacks, other first responders including NYPD, Port Authority police and EMTs, civilians who died on American Airlines Flight 11, United Airlines Flight 175, American Airlines Flight 77 and United Airlines Flight 93, and those who killed in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, at the Pentagon, and at Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Nearly 3,000 victims were killed Sept. 11, 2001, and the ensuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have claimed the lives of more than 6,700 U.S. military personnel.

Previous Patch coverage of the Hammers and Fire Memories:

Fire Memories Museum Opens Friday at Former Station 2, Ready 9/11 Sunday

Fire Museum-Learning Center Proposal Discussed at Noble Creek Park

WWII-Era Beverly Hills Fire Engine 8 Turns Heads in the San Gorgonio Pass

For more about Fire Memories Museum at Station 2 on West Wilson visit www.firememories.org.