09/10/2026
TURN BACK THE CLOCK - YPD's 9/11 MEMORIAL
In front of the Yarmouth Police Department is a lasting memorial to one of the darkest days in modern American history.
Twenty-five years ago, our nation was forever changed by the attacks of September 11, 2001. The lives lost, the sacrifices made, and the courage displayed that day, and the years that followed, will never be forgotten.
The memorial serves as a reminder of the enormous price paid on that day the resilience of the American people.
The message below is displayed on the plaque and is the story about how the piece of steal came to the YPD.
"Never Forget the Price of Freedom
The Story of How the 9/11 Artifact Came to the Yarmouth Police Department
The 9/11 disaster spawned a war overseas that spread from Iraq to Afghanistan.
One of the fallen heroes in the conflict in Afghanistan was Nicholas G. Xiarhos, son of Deputy Chief of Police Steven G. Xiarhos. Because Nick gave his life to defend his country, his father asked the Port Authority of New York if they would give an artifact to Yarmouth Police Department Headquarters specifically for a 9/11 Memorial Garden.
On Wednesday, March 13, 2013, a twisted 3-foot, 175-pound section of a solid steel I-beam that was recovered from the World Trade Center disaster arrived at Yarmouth Police Headquarters.
Yarmouth Police Department officers Albert Sprague, Michael Bryant, Nicholas Giammarco, and Steven G. Xiarhos volunteered to drive to New York City to recover the item from Hangar 17 at the John F. Kennedy International Airport. While wearing ceremonial white gloves, the item was safely secured in the rear compartment of a Yarmouth Police Department Ford Police Interceptor SUV and covered with an American flag that flew in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The team of police officers then traveled to Ground Zero. Upon arrival, they were escorted through the site by Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police officers under the direction of Port Authority Executive Officer Lieutenant Quentin D. De Marco of PATH Police Command. Lieutenant De Marco, a United States Marine Corps veteran and a survivor of the 9/11 attack, graciously took the team to One World Trade Center, the Freedom Tower, the 9/11 Memorial Museum, and the 9/11 Memorial Pools.
Under the direction of Lieutenant De Marco, the special visit also included the flying of the American flag on the main flagpole at Ground Zero. This was the American flag that had flown in Iraq and had been given as a gift to Officer Sprague by his sons, both soldiers in the United States Army. The flag was flown proudly and then recovered and was originally displayed alongside the 9/11 artifact in a secured display area at Yarmouth Police Headquarters.
The Yarmouth Police Department is one of only a few police departments in America to have been bestowed the honor of receiving an artifact from the “Attack on America on 9/11/2001.”"
