People everywhere are remembering the Sept. 11 attacks and a piece of that history still in the Rio Grande Valley.

On South Padre Island, a piece of steel recovered from the World Trade Center is on display at the fire department.

Many visit the island for its beaches, but many are unaware they are just minutes from a major piece of American history.

"I did not. I didn't even know, nobody talked about it, I guess," South Padre Island resident Karen Carpenter said.

Carpenter has called the island home for the last five years.

To everyone's surprise, just outside the South Padre Island Fire Department sits a piece of steel from the World Trade Center; one of the buildings destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

But for those who just learned about it on the events 25th anniversary, there's a big question, how did a piece of the World Trade Center make its way from Ground Zero to South Padre Island?

"Various departments throughout the United States applied for these pieces and we were put on the list to do it and we were narrowed down to the finalist and we were selected because of our tourism population," Fire Chief Jim Pigg said.

Pigg said the memorial piece was obtained through a grant process started by a previous fire chief. The piece of steel arrived on South Padre Island in 2012, just one year after the current fire station opened.

"There was an entourage of personnel that came down. It was delivered in one of our previous firefighters back of his truck. People were pulled over on the side of the road, they knew it was coming down. Flags were flown, so those of us that were here when it was delivered, extremely personal, and we treasure it very much so," Pigg said.

Many people who live or vacation at the island say this is the first time they're hearing about it.

"I feel like sometimes, like we don't all get to go to New York and get to see like the 9/11 Memorial and like the names and everything. So I mean now that I know about it, I mean I'm going to tell my friend like, 'Hey like let's go,'" Edinburg resident Monique Soto said.

Twenty-five years after that morning, the memories may feel far away for some, but here on South Padre Island, a piece of that day remains nearby.

"God bless everybody and to everybody that gave a life that day like it's not forgotten," Soto said.

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