2003PressArticles

When Chester Weekes bought his 1999 Monaco Windsor, a 38-foot diesel motor home, he had already mapped out most of the trip he intended to take around the country with his wife.

The couple intended to head out on their cross country vacation on Sept. 12, 2001, but as they packed, the two sat at home watching the attack on America take place on television like the rest of the nation.

But unlike most others, Weekes chose to make a difference immediately -- he volunteered to go back to work and headed down to Ground Zero to lend a hand.

Weekes, 57, and long- time friend Gene Smith, 54, both retired lieutenants with the Port Authority Police of New York and New Jersey, wanted to carry on paying tribute to those who were lost after the recovery effort at the World Trade Center site was complete.

"We were playing golf once a week," Weekes said of his retirement. "The next thing you know we were going to funerals. We lost 37 friends and co-workers, so we just thought they deserved their own identity."

The two set off to convert his motor home into a traveling exhibit after Weekes got the ok to remove some artifacts from the rubble including: Port Authority police car doors, fuselage fragments from American Airlines Flight 11, keys and street signs from Ground Zero.

Their goal was simple -- to honor those who were lost, while keeping the memory of the day alive. The side of the motor home became a memorial on wheels with the names of 37 Port Authority and 23 New York City police officers on the side. The exhibit they would set up numerous times would be filled with an extensive photo collection, biographies of those who were lost and first hand accounts.

"We're not part of the story," said Weekes. "We're just traveling around telling the story. What started out as a way to honor the Port Authority Police ended up as a way to honor the day and everyone that was lost -- uniformed or not."

Last March, the two packed up the motor home and hit the road together. Not anticipating a reaction as positive as they've had, the pair only planned to tour until the first anniversary of the event.

Their adventure continued for 33,000 miles in the motor home by the time they pulled into the parking lot of Ocean City's Grand Hotel for an event hosted by the Maryland Municipal Police Executives Association.

With more than 40 stops and counting, Weekes said nearly 500,000 people have passed through to view the display. Waiting times to get a glimpse have been up to four hours. And at just about every stop they've made, they've met someone waiting in those long lines who lost a family member that fateful day.

"I've told this to family members throughout the whole country. People felt their pain," Weekes said. "Even if they didn't know anyone it still affected everyone. It wasn't an attack on New York or Washington. It was an attack on America."

After the exhibit ends its tour later this year, the Ground Zero artifacts will go to the Smithsonian and the Port Authority Museum and Weekes will finally set off on the trip with his wife. But the lasting reminder the Traveling Memorial has given to thousands of people around the country won't go away once the motor home stops its tour.

"One of the nicest moments is when children go through. You can see they realize what it was. They come out and say 'thank you'," Weekes said. "They're the group we really want to reach. If children understand, maybe we won't forget."

Originally published Thursday, April 24, 2003

2003 PRESS ARTICLES

Maryland Times-Press

April 24, 2003

Mobile memorial comes to Oean City, MD

Traveling exhibit logs 33,000 miles to honor victims of 9/11 terrorist attack

By Pete Beisser

Staff Writer

Lt. Chester A. Weekes (PAPD Ret.)

(04/24/03) SOUTHINGTON - A traveling memorial to remember victims of the World Trade Center attack comes to Connecticut for the first time. Families who lost loved ones from across the state gathered at the Aqua Turf in Southington on Thursday for a private viewing.Governor John Rowland (R-CT) greeted nearly 50 families before the viewing of the display. Many families say, that while these memorials are bitter sweet, it does help in the healing process.The traveling memorial was started by two retired Port Authority police officers. They volunteer their time, traveling from state to state, bringing a sense of reality of that tragic day to people all around the world.Click here to add your text.

News 12 Connecticut

Southington, CT hosts mobile WTC memorial

News 12 Connecticut - April 24, 2003

Associated Press Matt Apuzzo - April 24, 2003

Jersey Journal - May 6, 2003

Mike Goodman, Mount Union fire chief, looks at artifacts from the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City Sept. 11, 2001. The door, at the right, and parts of the airplane which struck one of the towers are featured in the NYPD-Port Authority's Traveling Memorial.

Photo by Tammy Fagan

Huntingdon, Mount Union, Orbisonia and Saxto, PA

The Daily News

Saturday, July 10, 2003

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The Daily News-Mount Union, PA - July 12, 2003