We will never
forget 9/11

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

In the aftermath of the worst-ever attack by foreign terrorists on American soil, the public immediately offered a giant outpouring of support for the families of the victims.
Large corporations, mom-and-pop stores, the rich and famous as well as anonymous folks across the country donated to the relief funds set up to help the wives, husbands and children of 9/11 victims manage financially.
But Kevin Held, of Peoria, Ariz., couldn’t shake the urge to do something big — something really big — to honor the victims of the tragedies in New York, Washington and Shanksville.
In the meantime, a high school sophomore and her friends from Held’s hometown were at work on a memorial of their own — a banner made out of a bed sheet with the name of their school, Centennial High, on it along with their personal messages for the deceased.
Held figured that every single one of the almost 3,000 victims of the 9/11 attacks deserved a banner.
So he and Dominique Deal, then a 16-year-old high school student, set about making a colossal quilt comprised of all 3,000 banners.
On the sixth anniversary of the attacks last week, the Philadelphia Police Department joined the ranks of those participating in the now-national American Quilt Memorial project.
PPD leaders presented Held with a contribution to the quilt created by officers from around the city. Officers from the 6th, 9th, 14th, 22nd, 24th, 25th, 35th and 39th districts drew intricate logos on the banner, which dozens of their colleagues then signed.
According to Held, the banner will be dedicated to Officer Walter Weaver, a member of the New York Police Department’s emergency services unit who died in the World Trade Center collapse as he tried to rescue civilians trapped in an elevator.
The banner will join others now being assembled in Houston, Held said. Organizers of the effort hope that once the banner is complete, it will be presented to the president in a White House ceremony, then disassembled. The pieces will then be sent to the families of the victims.
Held is hoping to finish the quilt within two years. He’s been working on it for the last six.
"This started basically two days after September eleventh," he said. "After September eleventh happened, everywhere I went, I saw fish bowls and jars of money that people were raising for the victims’ families. Although I thought that was great, I felt people were forgetting about the people who died."
After learning about Deal and the Centennial High banner, they began soliciting similar banners from schools throughout Arizona.
Two years ago, Held hit the road to solicit help across the country, not just from schools, but from police, fire and other public safety agencies as well.
"We’ve got people who make quilts from Connecticut, California and Illinois," he said.
Local police got involved after Held contacted the office of Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson, who asked Chief Inspector James Tiano to head up the effort.
Though Johnson was unavailable for last week’s banner presentation, Deputy Commissioners John Gaittens, Charlotte A. Council and Richard Ross all took part, as did Tiano and Executive Officer Kimberly Byrd.
"I think this is absolutely outstanding," Gaittens said. "As everybody says, we will never forget, but this is an active statement that we will never forget."
City officers were more than happy to lend their amateur art skills to the project. By all accounts, the colored drawings of uniformed officers, patrol cars, badges, the World Trade Center and other 9/11 symbols turned out quite well.
"We have a lot of artistically inclined people," Gaittens said.
"If you need a particular task done, you’ll find somebody to do it (in the department)," Tiano said.
The quilt project is administered by the non-profit Stage 1 Productions — a registered 501(c)3 organization. It has no corporate sponsors and does not actively solicit donations, Held said. The sale of commemorative T-shirts offsets his travel costs, he added. ••
For information, visit the Web site at www.americanquiltmemorial.org or call 1-623-933-0359.
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com