9/11 exhibit will visit show at fairgrounds

Never forget.

Those words represent why organizations like Portland’s Museum of the Soldier and the Indiana Military Vehicle Preservation Association exist. They work to keep history, and the memories of those who helped to write it, alive.

As part of that effort, this year’s Indiana Military Vehicle Preservation Association Military Vehicle Show and Swap Meet — it will be held Sept. 15 and 16 at Jay County Fairgrounds — will feature the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’s 9/11 Never Forget mobile exhibit.

Jim Waechter of Museum of the Solider, which has hosted the show at the fairgrounds since 2014, first saw the 9/11 exhibit in Indianapolis a few years ago.

“I just happened to hear it was there and went to see it,” said the local military historian. “I thought that would be neat to get in here. I finally succeeded this year.”

The exhibit is booked for both days of the military vehicle show — 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 15 and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 16 — and will remain on display from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, a day that will be a tribute to first responders.

It serves as a tribute to all who lost their as a result of the Sept. 11, 2011, attacks. An 83-foot semi that travels the country, it opens into a 1,100-square foot display that includes interactive educational elements such as steel beams from the World Trade Center towers that were destroyed 22 years ago, documentary videos and recordings of first responder radio transmissions.

Fire Department of New York firefighters provide interactive tours and first-hand accounts of 9/11 and the days that followed.

“I think it’s just awesome and I thought it would be neat to have here,” said Waechter. “I think it’s going to draw a lot of excitement.”

Waechter led a group that has worked to secure the dates and raise funds for the exhibit, with the first $5,000 coming via a grant from The Portland Foundation. Jay County Visitors & Tourism Bureau provided an additional $5,000, with donations of $10,000 from J&M Manufacturing and $1,000 from Red Gold. A $5,000 down payment was made earlier this year with the remaining funding needed sent this week.

While the initial cost is covered, the group is still working to raise funds for related costs such as hotel rooms and advertising.

Tunnel to Towers Foundation is a non-profit organization named in honor of New York firefighter Stephen Siller, who drove to Brooklyn Battery Tunnel in an effort to respond following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. Finding the tunnel already blocked for security reasons, he carried 60 pounds of gear through the tunnel to the towers, where he died during the rescue effort.

More than 600,000 visitors have seen the 9/11 Never Forget mobile exhibit that travels the United States and Canada. It will be in Mount Kisco, New York, and Tenafly, New Jersey, the weekend before the Indiana Military Vehicle Preservation Association show and the City of Quincy on Sept. 20.

“It’s an incredibly powerful exhibit,” Waechter said.