New York - Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Richard Stengel and U.S. Ambassador to NATO Douglas Lute will join NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg for a wreath laying at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York City on Sunday, September 27.

The visit marks the beginning of a joint project between the Department of State, the 9/11 Memorial, and NATO to display a piece of steel from the Twin Towers in the new NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. After laying a wreath by the Survivor Tree at Ground Zero, they will tour the museum with 9/11 Memorial President Joe Daniels.

This project commemorates the support America’s NATO Allies and partners offered after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The very next day, on September 12, NATO – for the first time in its history – invoked Article V, the collective defense clause of the Washington Treaty, signaling the attacks on the United States represented an attack on all NATO members.

The Twin Towers steel segment is an 11-foot tall piece from the 107th floor of the North Tower, just floors above where American Airlines Flight 11 impacted. With support from Department of State public diplomacy funds, the Twin Towers steel will be transported to Brussels next year, where it will stand at NATO headquarters as a solemn reminder of the ironclad bonds linking the United States and its NATO Allies. The new NATO headquarters is currently under construction and is scheduled to open in 2016.