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player ready...The 9/11 Never Forget Mobile Exhibit is a large-scale tribute to those who sacrificed their lives in the terror attacks on America on Sept. 11, 2001.
A high-tech tractor-trailer converts into a 1,000-square-foot exhibit that displays steel from the fallen Twin Towers. Various images likewise provide a sweeping and poignant overview of the horrific day.
The traveling memorial, which serves up interactive education, will pay a six-day visit to Blue Chip Casino, Hotel & Spa, beginning Aug. 31. Hours are noon to 7 p.m. daily.
With free admission, the exhibit stands as an all-ages experience that has motored across the country, from Arizona to Florida.
The 53-foot-long rolling museum will be located in the casino’s front parking area as the 15th anniversary of 9/11 nears.
The Michigan City crowds can view documentary videos and powerful recordings of first-responder radio transmissions on that gripping day in New York City.
Ever since the mobile memorial was christened on Sept. 11, 2013, in Fayetteville, N.C., an increasing number of Americans have been able to personally experience direct links to one of the most heart-wrenching and extraordinary days in United States history.
“When they get through this exhibit, they are going to know that true blue, red-blooded American heroes walked the face of the earth that day, in the form of those first responders,” said John Hodge, chief operating officer of the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation in New York City. The 9/11 mobile exhibit is funded by the nonprofit foundation, which will accept donations at the Blue Chip stop.
“A lot of the artifacts are from firehouses throughout New York City; we have pieces of fire vehicles, fire apparatus,” Hodge said. “There’s personal stories attached to them.”
Two New York firefighters are scheduled to be on hand in Michigan City to give tours and answer the public’s questions. One of the firefighters experienced the 9/11 chaos firsthand in New York. Some of the firefighters who act as docents are retired.
“We feel it’s important for the rest of America to know what happened that day because history’s destined and bound to repeat itself, if, in fact, people don’t understand what happened that day,” Hodge said.
The name of the foundation honors Hodge’s cousin, Stephen Siller, a firefighter who died on 9/11 after leaving his vehicle in stopped traffic and strapping on his gear for a dash through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to the besieged World Trade Center Twin Towers.
Hodge said Siller had just gotten off duty, and was heading home to play golf when he heard the scanner in his pickup truck relaying news about the strike on the Towers.
Siller raced back to his Squad 1 firehouse in Brooklyn. The fire trucks had already rolled, so Siller grabbed his fire gear — which weighed about 60 pounds — and headed to the Twin Towers in lower Manhattan via the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel.
But as he neared the tunnel, his progress was halted because of traffic closures due to security measures.
“And so he just abandoned his truck right in the middle of the highway, puts on all that gear and he starts to run through the tunnel, through the streets of lower Manhattan, where he hooked up with his fellow members from Squad 1,” Hodge said. “His run was almost three miles.”
Siller and numerous Squad 1 comrades died in the collapse of the South Tower.
Reflecting the reverence many hold for those who served and sacrificed, LaPorte County first responders will provide an escort for the 9/11 Never Forget Mobile Exhibit as it makes its way to Blue Chip Casino on the day before public admission begins.
The Michigan City-based Guardian Riders will be part of the escort.
“We’re honored to participate,” said Doug Biege, president of the motorcycle-riders group. “I think it’s fantastic that it’s traveling throughout the country.”
Biege said he heads a charitable group whose work largely deals with providing assistance to those who have served in the military.
Biege, a LaPorte County resident, realizes that the traveling exhibit’s various elements convey the 9/11 experience to people in the Heartland.
The exterior of the World Trade Center Twin Towers is represented in the unique museum.
“We have some of the aluminum facade,” Hodge said.
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Additionally, the 1993 World Trade Center bombing is covered.
All told, approximately 3,000 people were killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which involved the crashes of four hijacked commercial airliners in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.
Bob Kostanczuk is a freelance writer.
9/11 Never Forget Mobile Exhibit
Where: Parking lot of Blue Chip Casino, Hotel & Spa, 777 Blue Chip Drive, Michigan City
When: Noon to 7 p.m. daily; Aug. 31-Sept. 5
Admission: Free
Information: 219-879-7711, www.bluechipcasino.com