9/11 exhibit at air show keeps tragic memories alive
REGINA — Herb Penner, a 30-year veteran of the New York Fire Department, calls himself a living artifact.
Travelling with the 9/11 Never Forget Mobile Exhibit, the former fire chief hopes his involvement can add to the public’s understanding of the events that occurred nearly 14 years ago.
Created by the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, the travelling exhibit is a tribute to those who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks in New York City.
On Friday, on its way to the Canada Remembers Our Heroes Air Show in Saskatoon, the exhibit made a brief stop in Regina at the Legislative Building.
“(The exhibit) is sort of the history of the World Trade Center,” Penner said. “There’s also live radio transmissions from the fire department to the dispatcher from people who were trapped in the buildings ... A lot of the voices are of people that I worked with that are no longer with us.”
The exhibit is held in a 53-foot tractor trailer that opens up into a 1,000-squarefoot exhibit. The WA WA Shriners of Saskatchewan were responsible for bringing it to Saskatchewan, and this weekend marks the only time the exhibit has visited Canada.
Minister of Parks, Culture and Sport Mark Docherty said he is honoured the exhibit chose to come to Saskatchewan.
“Most of us know the sacrifice made on 9/11 by New York’s finest: Firefighters and police. It is an important story to be told to today’s youth, growing up with no first-hand memory of the experience and of those now iconic images (from) that tragic day,” said Docherty.
Penner, who spent two and a half months at Ground Zero after the attacks, said it’s “heart-wrenching” to be a part of the exhibit, but he does it so people never forget the events of 9/11.
“I don’t want history to repeat itself. The young have to be educated and the old have to be reminded of it,” said Penner.
He also wants to keep New York firefighter Stephen Siller’s memory alive.
Siller was on his way to play golf with his brothers on Sept. 11, 2001, when he heard on the radio what had happened at the World Trade Center. He made a Uturn and came back to New York, but all the bridges were closed, so he pulled his car over and ran through the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel to the scene of the attack. He died trying to help there and his remains were never found.
“That’s why the foundation is called the Tunnel to Towers Stephen Siller Foundation,” said Penner.
Penner’s son Mike, who has been an active firefighter in the Bronx for 10 years, is also travelling with the exhibit. Like his father before him, Mike has a heavy Brooklyn accent, and said he has enjoyed his first visit to Saskatchewan.
“It’s an honour to be here. Everyone has been very friendly,” said Mike.