9/11 Mobile Exhibit Memorial Will be in Grand Rapids September 10 and 11

The “9/11 Never Forget Mobile Exhibit” marking the 13th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, will be at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in downtown Grand Rapids beginning September 10 through the 11th and is part of the 13th annual Scout Salute and Community Day of Remembrance.

The President Ford Council, Boy Scouts of America will lead the West Michigan community in a day-long “Scout Salute” at the museum on Sept. 11 to pay respect to all those who died during the terrorist attacks.

The day of remembrance has been held annually from sunrise to sunset since September 11, 2002 at the Ford museum and has been supported by the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation each year.

The addition of the “9/11 Never Forget Mobile Exhibit” to this year’s events marks the exhibit’s first stop in Michigan. The mobile exhibit was dedicated on September 11, 2013 by the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which is named for a New York firefighter who sacrificed his life for others on 9/11. It was Siller’s six siblings who established the Foundation in his memory, and who created the exhibit to ensure that what happened on 9/11 would never be forgotten.

The exhibit is divided into three sections: The history of the World Trade Center, what happened at Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2001, and the story of Stephen Siller and the work being accomplished by his Foundation—particularly the Building for America's Bravest program.

The artifacts in the exhibit were specially selected by members of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) to show the American people what it was like to be at Ground Zero on 9/11. A piece of World Trade Center steel, aluminum façade from the towers, first-responder radio transmissions and documentary video segments are among the many features on display inside the high-tech, 1,100 square foot trailer.

Two New York City Fire Department Battalion Chiefs will be on-hand at the exhibit to offer tours, an eyewitness account of what happened that day, and to answer visitors’ questions.

To honor the arrival of the exhibit, during the afternoon of Sept. 9, the Battalion Chiefs, the Grand Rapids Police Department, the Patriot Guard Riders, members of the Rolling Thunder motorcycle group and the Boy Scouts of America will escort the mobile museum to its temporary display location at the Ford museum.

While in Grand Rapids, the exhibit is free and open to the public to visit. The exhibit will be open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sept. 10 and 8 a.m.-8 p.m. on Sept. 11.