Remembering not to forget

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SPRING HILL (Bay News 9) -- Zoli Hegyi said too many people are starting to forget about the terrorist attacks that occurred on
September 11, 2001.

Hegyi was a volunteer with the New York Police Department for 16 years. He said those who perished must be remembered.

"I have to do something, you know, as an American," Hegyi said. "I've got to do something."

So, every year since 9-11 Hegyi has built a memorial in the front yard of his Spring Hill home. Hegyi's wife, Kathy, said somebody needs to do it.

"He doesn't do Halloween and Christmas and he does this, so it's important," Kathy Hegyi said.

"A lot of people put up flags, you know. We put up our flags and I just figured that wasn't enough," Zoli Hegyi said.

This year's monument is designed to resemble New York's twin towers. Hegyi said he's always had a positive response from the community. Until this year.

Hegyi said the day they put up the monument a car drove off the road, onto their lawn and knocked over the
tower on purpose.

"I'm looking out and the guy is actually ramming into it," Hegyi said. "My mouth just dropped."

"It wasn't very nice of them to do that," Kathy Hegyi said. "It really ticked me off, actually."

Hegyi said his memorial wasn't damaged enough for the police to investigate. He was able to rebuild the tower right away, but he's still having a hard time believing somebody would do something like that.

"We should never forget what happened," he said. "It happened on American soil. It was a horrific incident."

Hegyi said he's going to continue to build a memorial every year.

Information from Bay News 9's partner, the St. Petersburg Times, was used in this report.

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