Billboard Honoring 9/11 Unveiled

BOSTON -- A new, laminated reproduction of "We Must Never Forget" was unveiled Monday in Wareham. The work depicts the three firefighters who hoisted the American flag at Ground Zero on 9/11.

NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that the first reproduction that was ruined by weather was carefully removed and returned to Marion painter Alexander Byron. His sisters were instrumental in replacing the tattered work that was mounted on a small billboard along the Cranberry Highway.

"This is very important because having this billboard here reminds people. It's a memory that they will never forget. And we don't want them ever to forget what happened," said the painter's sister, Joanne Byron.

Alex Byron said it took him just three weeks working 18-hour days to complete his painting. Technically, he calls it primitive, but he said he felt nothing but raw emotion as he worked on it.

"There's a thing of inhumanity. It's very striking. So we have to be on the alert," he said. "I'm proud of the fact that it's important to so many people."

It's especially important to Capt. Earl Fowler -- a 40-year veteran of the Onset Fire Department who feels 9/11 as if he had been there.

"I really can't find the words to tell you how important it is to every firefighter. When he looks at something like that he wants to be there. He wants to help out. He wants to work. It's very important that as I drive by this road and I see that sign up there. I'm very proud of it. Very, very proud of it," Flower said.

The original painting tours the country. As an extra measure of protection, the newly-redone billboard will be covered with Plexi glass.