9/11 Relic Begins New Chapter in Chickasaw Country

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By Chickasaw Nation Media

September 11, 2025

TISHOMINGO, Okla. – A relic from the destroyed World Trade Center on permanent display in the Johnston County Courthouse received a new glass memorial case recently thanks to the efforts of the Chickasaw Nation, county officials and Tishomingo community residents. 

A piece of a steel I beam from one of the World Trade Center towers, which were the target of a 2001 terrorist attack that killed more than 2,700 people, was placed at the county courthouse in 2011. The artifact was on display inside a cabinet built by the Chickasaw Nation cabinet shop, said Chickasaw Nation Cabinet Shop Supervisor Jimmy Koonce.

“During the past 14 years, the wood became weathered, and the cabinet needed a refresh,” he said.

A new display case was built by the cabinet shop, which partnered with the Chickasaw Nation STEM Academy team to engrave an acrylic slab with the inscription “We Will Always Remember – 09-11-01,” Koonce said.

The positive phrase and securing the piece of history was the idea of the Milburn, Oklahoma, senior class of 2011, said Nellie Garone. Garone, a retired high school teacher, sponsored the students’ efforts beginning in 2010 to bring the artifact to their Johnston County school.

Securing the piece of steel began as a senior project, Garone said. The class wrote three letters to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversaw distribution of the artifacts. On the third attempt, the class included letters of support from Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby and then-Congressman Dan Boren, among other officials. While composing the third letter, the class of 11 students researched how to write a persuasive letter and highlighted the 1995 Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing.

“In the third letter we mentioned the Oklahoma City bombing and how we understand the devastation and feel a kinship with the people of New York,” she said.

The request was approved on the third attempt.

UPS donated the shipping of the relic, which weighs about 100 pounds, and the Chickasaw Nation constructed the original display cabinet.

“We had a huge amount of help getting it done,” Garone said.

Once the steel was delivered to Milburn, there was a thought that the piece of American history needed to be in a place where more people might see it.

“It was given to the school, but we thought more people would see it at the courthouse, so we talked to the county commissioners and they said we could put it in the courthouse,” Garone said.

The artifact, along with a wooden plaque bearing the senior class names, interpretive signage and a photo of the World Trade Center towers, are in the new display case, which is open to the public and set in the foyer of the Johnston County Courthouse, 403 W. Main, Tishomingo, Oklahoma.

There are only a few other places in Oklahoma that feature a piece of steel from the World Trade Center, including Hobart, Bixby and the campus of Oklahoma State University, Stillwater.

The Milburn Class of 2011 includes Marcus West, Micheal Whelan, Zeby Gibson, Zach Burns, Brad Corn, Sarah Kerns, Delbert Leonard, Jessica Cribbs, James Gregg, Ashley Martinez and Johnathan Elkins. Garone was the class adviser and Jon Holmes the principal-superintendent.

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