Hear stories from FDNY firefighters who worked on 9/11 at mobile exhibit visiting Idaho Falls
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IDAHO FALLS — A group of retired firefighters from New York are giving tours to the eastern Idaho community at a mobile exhibit that showcases a piece of history. It’s a rare opportunity to hear what happened through their experiences.
Retired FDNY Lt. David Turner is one of them. He lost 15 people from his firehouse on September 11, 2001.
“It was the darkest days of my life,” he recalls.
Terrorists from al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airplanes and crashed two of the planes into the upper floors of the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center.
A third plane went into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. Passengers on the fourth hijacked plane fought back. Read more here.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed as a result of what happened that day.
Turner remembers he had just gotten off a 24-hour shift and was home.
“My wife got a phone call from her sister and said, ‘Where’s Dave? Is Dave working?’ And she said, ‘No, he’s here.’ ‘Turn on the TV.’ (We) turned on the TV and saw what was going on,” Turner said. “I raced down to the firehouse and by the time I got down there, my company had already left.”
He grabbed his gear and met up with other firemen. By the time he got down to the Twin Towers, they had already fallen.
“At that point, we were just trying to find guys from our companies, find survivors, but there were none. It was very tough,” Turner said.
He found out that his engine company was in the Marriott Hotel, getting people out of there when a tower had come down.
“It took out half the Marriott Hotel. So our guys were in the hallway, and it crushed them all,” Turner said. “The only reason we know that is there were other firefighters from a different company, and they got out, but they were able to tell us.”
Twenty-three years later, the tragic day is still taking people. Turner told EastIdahoNews.com that two firemen just died last week from FDNY due to 9/11-related cancer.
RELATED | 9/11 Never Forget mobile exhibit coming to eastern Idaho
The mobile exhibit
Turner helps educate communities about 9/11 and gives tours through the Tunnel to Towers Foundation at the “9/11 Never Forget” mobile exhibit. It’s currently in Idaho Falls at The Waterfront at Snake River Landing, 1220 Event Center Drive, until Sept. 11. Check the schedule below.
It’s free to enter.
“Doing this is good therapy. We all say the same thing. The guys we lost there, they’re the heroes,” Turner said.
This is the first time the mobile exhibit has been in Idaho Falls. Billy Puckett is the field manager with Tunnel to Towers Foundation and drives it across the country.
“It’s 1,300 square feet. It’s brand new. We just debuted this one in May. It’s really neat because it’s got new artifacts and relics different than we had in our other exhibit that we retired,” Puckett said. “What’s here is very special, and it all has a meaning. The stories that are behind those pieces are truly amazing.”
Pat Clancy, a retired firefighter who lived in New York, said the mobile exhibit is very emotional. He helps give tours just like Turner does.
“We’ll tell the story, and everybody that was alive then can feel this emotion because we were scared that day. We were terrorized, and a lot of the children don’t know what we went through,” Clancy said.
He emphasized it’s important for children to learn what happened.
“I always say, ‘Look at your parent’s face, everybody.’ And they look, and I go, ‘Do you remember where you were that day?’ The parents start crying and say, ‘Yeah.’ And I tell them (the children), ‘That’s what terrorism does,'” he said.
The exhibit was brought by Heroes Defense
Heroes Defense, a local nonprofit, brought this exhibit to Idaho Falls.
“Much of the exhibit is a re-creation of what you would see at the New York City 9/11 Memorial Museum. It’s a really special opportunity,” said Director for Heroes Defense Jesse Ferney. “We don’t know if it will ever be in Idaho again.”
He added local artist Elena Johnson will be doing a charcoal drawing live and in person at the Tunnel to Towers event. It’s a drawing of a firefighter holding an American Flag.
Ferney said anyone who would like to buy a raffle ticket will have a chance to win it on Sept. 11. It’s $20 a ticket, and the money will go to Heroes Defense. The nonprofit has a “sole purpose to provide support, resources, and aid to those individuals fighting for our freedoms and the American way of life.”
Click here to learn more about its mission and helping first responders.
On Sept. 11, those involved in Tunnel to Towers will join Heroes Defense and the city of Idaho Falls at the unveiling of a new 9/11 Memorial. It consists of a piece of steel salvaged from one of the collapsed World Trade Center towers.
It will be held at the Idaho Falls Fire Department Station 1 Headquarters at 10 a.m. and the public is invited.
Come learn and remember
Turner encourages people to visit the mobile exhibit while they still can. It will be an unforgettable experience.
“It’s so important because we are already twenty-three years out. It seems that people are just losing connection, forgetting things, or maybe not caring,” Turner said. “The greatest thing is getting the school kids in here…in here is a world of information. They can ask questions, and they will be answered.”
