Head of Hartsville 9/11 Committee Reacts to bin Laden's Death

One week after a steel beam from the World Trade Center to the Hartsville Fire Company, Ed Pfeiffer received even better news Sunday night when President Barack Obama announced on live television that U.S. forces had killed 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden.

"I'm thrilled," Pfeiffer said while driving home from the shore Monday afternoon. "It took a long time to get here, and it's going to take a long time to heal, but hopefully this is the beginning."

Navy SEALS and CIA forces raided a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, an hour north of Islamabad, and ended the firefight in 40 minutes by shooting bin Laden in the head, according to media reports. The body was taken to Afghanistan for identification then later buried at sea.

As head of the Hartsville Fire Company's 9/11 Committee, Pfeiffer organized the efforts to receive the 12-foot long steel beam from the New York/New Jersey Port Authority. He and a crew of his fellow firefighters picked up the steel on April 21, kept it locked up at the Eddington Fire Company in Bensalem and gave it a traffic-stopping procession down Street Road to the Hartsville headquarters the following Saturday.

The station received the steel in appreciation for its annual memorial service performed every Sept. 11. Pfeiffer plans to have a full memorial constructed by this coming 10th anniversary, which will pack an even larger emotional punch.

Pfeiffer was watching the Phillies-Mets baseball game when he heard the crowd begin to chant "U.S.A.!" and began to suspect something was happening. He flipped on the news and waited for Obama to give his speech.

"He did a great job explaining what had happened," said Pfeiffer. "The next question is, where do we go from here?"