Join Waukesha resident Brien Lee and his blog, Sir Fido, as they explore the city and report on the interesting things they find.
Waukesha's 4th of July parade wasn't just clowns and kids and high school bands. It was more than free candy, politicians and old cars. More than live music, scouts and park and rec. floats. If you weren't at the parade you missed the one opportunity most of us will ever have to see a recognizable relic of the World Trade Center up close.
A Waukesha Engine Enginator, one of six engines used to generate electricity at the W.T.C., filled the 48' trailer it sat upon but the semi trailer couldn't contain it's significance. It's as much a monument to the 3000 who died September 11th as the Veterans' Park sundial it rolled past is to those who fought and died in wars.
Veterans' Park, at the intersection of Main, West and Wisconsin Ave., incorporates actual letters from soldiers addressed to Waukesha Engine pleading for spare parts. Downed pilots' lives depended on the rescue ships powered by Waukesha engines in WWII. It choked me up to read that mechanics offered their meager wages to pay for the spare parts in the knowledge that time saved by avoiding the bureaucracy would equal lives saved.
Besides the six engines buried by the collapse of the towers, four Waukesha engines two blocks away ran for two weeks to supply power to the Federal Reserve following Sept. 11th.
Enjoy your independence and freedom but don't forget to thank a vet.
