The Pile


The Pile was the term coined by the rescue workers to describe the tons of
wreckage left from the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack on the World
Trade Center. They avoided the use of Ground Zero, out of respect for all
those who died.

Workers worked day and night to clear the wreckage and recover colleagues
killed during the attacks. The site was officially cleared around Memorial
Day, 2002, about 4 months earlier than expected.

The last standing piece of building steel, which was part of the South
Tower, was draped with an American flag and carried out during a ceremony
marking the last day of the recovery work. It was a symbol for all those
lost whose bodies were never recovered or identified. It will be used to
construct the bow of a new San Antonio-class amphibious assault ship, USS

New York (which is explicitly named for the state, not the city).