GRAPEVINE – America first learned of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks through messages from the flight crews aboard the hijacked airplanes.

Photos by REX C. CURRY/Special Contributor

The 9/11 Flight Crew Memorial contains five bronze figures, including a female flight attendant. The monument will be 18 feet tall and 14 feet wide.

Those flight crews were the first responders as well as messengers, but friends and colleagues say their contributions have been largely overlooked.

Now, nearly seven years after the tragedy, those supporters say that they will finally give the 33 crew members who died in the line of duty the rightful tribute they deserve as the first national 9/11 Flight Crew Memorial is dedicated on Friday.

The memorial, a collaboration between a grass-roots, nonprofit foundation and the city of Grapevine, is an imposing sculpture named "Valor Commitment Dedication." It will stand at the front of a new commercial development at Northwest Highway and Texan Trail.

"It will be visible from the ground as well as from the air, for those flying into or out of [Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport] to the north," said Valerie Thompson, an American Airlines flight attendant and founder of the 9/11 Flight Crew Memorial Foundation. "It really is the perfect setting."

The monument is about 18 feet tall and contains five bronze figures – a captain, a first officer, a male and female flight attendant and a child.

The sculpture also features two eagles representing American and United airlines, which both lost two planes in the terrorist attacks.

The memorial also has mementos from the three sites where the planes crashed. There's a rusted beam from the World Trade Center, stone from the Pentagon and dirt from Pennsylvania.

Ms. Thompson was so moved by the Sept. 11 attacks that she and her husband, Dean, decided to form the foundation to build a memorial.

The couple, residents of Hurst, originally had no site and far more dedication than money. Mr. Thompson, a retiree who had taken up sculpture as a hobby, saw the project as a challenge and a way to help his wife honor the work of flight crews.

"We never thought it would take this long," Ms. Thompson said. "We're so thrilled it is nearly done."

The foundation has raised about $300,000 for the sculpture and hopes to add a fountain to the monument.

The physical work has been done mostly by Mr. Thompson, 71, who re-created the design of Utah sculptor Bryce Cameron Liston into larger-than-life-size bronze figures.

"There aren't too many sculptors around who have done anything this big," he said.

The selection of Grapevine as host city came as a result of city officials' willingness to partner with the foundation and provide $300,000 in public art funds, officials said.

The donation of land by developer Gary Hazlewood and other in-kind contributions have brought the cost of the project to about $1 million.

"A lot of the airport is located in Grapevine, and Grapevine has a large aviation community," Grapevine spokeswoman Lisa McGowan said. "This is a way to pay tribute to those who died as well as those who fly every day, regardless of the risks."

Memorials are being built around the country in tribute to victims of the terrorist attacks. Other major memorials include: the Pentagon Memorial in Washington, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center in New York and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania.

Ms. Thompson said she is often asked why this memorial is in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

"This is the headquarters of American Airlines," she said. "Besides, this was an American tragedy that affected us all, no matter we live. The place really isn't important."

Perhaps no one understands that better than Marty Fangman of Keller, whose brother, Bob, was a flight attendant aboard United Flight 175, the second plane to strike the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.

About 20 members of the Fangman family plan to attend the dedication ceremony.

"There are relatives everywhere," he said. "I'm so glad it is here because we will be able to drive past it and keep Bob's memory alive."

Staff writer Deborah Fleck contributed to this report.