The 9/11 NEVER FORGET Mobile Exhibit brings the stories and sacrifices of September 11 to Jefferson City.
What were you doing on Sept. 11, 2001?
For Steve Cearlock, the memory remains clear 25 years later. He was at work at the Missouri Department of Transportation when he realized his co-workers had disappeared. He found them gathered around a television. A plane had struck one of the World Trade Center towers.
“Like millions of Americans, we were trying to make sense of what we were seeing,” Steve remembers. “Then the second plane hit. The disbelief in the room turned to shock.”
By the end of the day, 2,977 people had lost their lives, including 343 firefighters.
For Steve, those losses hit especially close to home. He became a firefighter with the St. Louis County Fire Department in Ballwin in 1970 and has served with the Cole County Fire Protection District since moving to Jefferson City in 1972.
“Firefighters are family, no matter where they serve,” Steve says. “And on Sept. 11, we all felt that loss.”
More than 1,000 miles away, John LaBarbera experienced Sept. 11 from an entirely different perspective.
Then a captain with FDNY Engine 240 in Brooklyn, John was at a gym near his Staten Island home when he learned a plane had struck the World Trade Center. He went from firehouse to firehouse looking for gear. When none was left, he headed to the Staten Island Ferry, where his chiefs instructed him to assist the wounded expected from Manhattan. They waited. No one came. After about an hour, John and a group of firefighters decided they needed to get into Manhattan.
What they found at Ground Zero was devastation.
“Rescuers were on top of the pile, doing anything they could to get under the rubble to try and save the victims,” John recalls. “The fires were still burning underneath.”
In the days that followed, American flags appeared on nearly every block. New Yorkers lined the streets and watched firefighters pass.
John remembers his driver saying, “I think they finally realize what firefighters and police do. They go in after people they don’t even know.”
Twenty-five years later, preserving those memories has become part of John’s mission. After 39 years with the FDNY, he retired as a battalion commander in 2017. He has volunteered with the Tunnel to Towers Foundation since 2009 and now helps oversee its 9/11 NEVER FORGET Mobile Exhibit.
The Foundation grew from the sacrifice of FDNY firefighter Stephen Siller. On Sept. 11, Siller had finished his shift when he learned a plane had struck the World Trade Center. He returned for his gear, but the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel had been closed to traffic. Carrying 60 pounds of gear, Siller continued on foot through the tunnel toward the Twin Towers, where he lost his life while helping others.
The Siller family established the Tunnel to Towers Foundation in Stephen’s memory, carrying forward his legacy by supporting first responders, military service members, veterans and their families. For Stephen’s brother Frank Siller, chairman and CEO of the Foundation, that mission remains deeply personal.
"The 9/11 Never Forget Mobile Exhibit is one way we keep that promise," says Siller.
The exhibit teaches younger generations about the sacrifices made by his brother and the first responders who lost their lives while saving others.
The 83-foot tractor-trailer transforms into a 1,100-square-foot museum with artifacts recovered from Ground Zero, including World Trade Center steel, pieces of the marble lobby floor and sections of the building’s aluminum facade. Visitors hear authentic 9/11 dispatch recordings and encounter tributes to those who died that day and first responders who have since died from 9/11-related illnesses. Tours are led by retired New York City firefighters and first responders who served at Ground Zero.
Five years ago, Steve and a fellow firefighter realized Jefferson City had never hosted a community event commemorating Sept. 11. Together with others, they formed the Missouri Patriot Day Committee.
For four years, the group invited the 9/11 NEVER FORGET Mobile Exhibit to Jefferson City. This year, as the nation marks the 25th anniversary, the answer was finally yes. Six FDNY firefighters who served at Ground Zero will accompany the exhibit to the Missouri State Capitol grounds Sept. 10–13.
For Steve, it represents a rare opportunity for those who remember Sept. 11 and a generation that knows the day only through history.
“Twenty-five years have passed, but I still remember exactly where I was that morning,” he says. “Chances are, you do too.”
For John, remembering also means recognizing that Sept. 11 did not end when the fires went out. Survivors continue to suffer and die from 9/11-related illnesses.
“As a retired FDNY firefighter and board member for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, it is my duty to make sure that we never forget the sacrifices made on 9/11 and the sacrifices all first responders nationwide make in the line of duty every day,” John says.
A quarter century later, Jefferson City has an opportunity to remember alongside the people who were there and help another generation understand why we remember.
Schedule of Events
Sept. 9 | Arrival + Escort
First responders escort the Mobile Exhibit to the Capitol as community members line High Street with American flags.
Around 5 p.m.
Sept. 10 | Student Day + Public Hours
8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Open to students
2:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Open to the public
Sept. 11 | Missouri
Patriot Day
10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Exhibit open
7 p.m. | Commemorative
Ceremony
At South Capitol Lawn
Honor Guard, National Anthem, Taps, guest speakers, helicopter flyover and reading of the 2,977 names.
Sept. 12 | Tunnel To Towers 5k + Exhibit
8:30 a.m. | 5K Run & Walk
The 11th Annual Tunnel to Towers 5K Run & Walk starts and finishes at the Missouri State Capitol’s South Steps.
11 a.m. – 7 p.m. | Exhibit Open
Sept. 13 | Final Day
11 a.m. – 7 p.m. | Exhibit open