'Never Forget' 9/11 mobile exhibit making stop in Clovis

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) -- Valley veterans, military members and first responders were among the first to tour the "Never Forget" 9/11 mobile exhibit in Clovis.

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation's 9/11 Never Forget mobile museum arrived on Tuesday ahead of the 23rd anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on US soil.

It's named in honor of firefighter Stephen Siller's route back to work through the Brooklyn-Battery tunnel after the first plan hit the North Tower

Firefighters Bob and Frank responded to the World Trade Center on 9/11 and share with the groups what it was like that morning.

"I was at home. Had a four month old and wife. My wife said, 'a plane hit a building.' I'm dumbfounded, I see it on the TV. I said, 'I have to go to work,' said Dwyer, a retired New York City firefighter.

Dwyer and so many other heroes rushed in as soon as they saw what was happening -- he was sent to Staten Island.

"We were told we were going to be carrying dead and injured, thousands perhaps off the ferry," recalled Dwyer.

He says he knew it was a mass casualty event but it didn't sink in until he started helping two police officers sent to Staten Island.

Valley veterans, military members and first responders were among the first to tour the "Never Forget" 9/11 mobile exhibit in Clovis.

"One of them was crying, he was very distraught. It was just horrible," said Dwyer.

"I took him to a back room, he was covered in dust. I put my arm around him. He looked up at me and he was talking about the firefighters, 'You lost so many lives' and my heart sank at that point."

Part of his mission and that of Tunnel to Towers is to honor the first responders who made the ultimate sacrifice that day and to help support veterans and their families.

"We help families that lose loved ones in the line of duty, build homes for injured service men and women we pay mortgages for gold star families," said Billy Puckett, the manager of the Tunnel to Towers mobile museum.

This mobile museum, which features actual remnants of the World Trade Center, helps the California 9'11 Memorial with it's own mission to 'Honor, Educate, and Remember.'

This mobile museum will be open and free to the public until 7 pm on Wednesday.

The California 9/11 Memorial will then focus on it's Remembrance Ceremony starting at 8:30 am next Wednesday.

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