Remembering 9/11: Scottsdale Pays Tribute With Weeklong Display

SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Scottsdale might be more than 2,400 miles away, but for the next week its heart will be in New York City.

From Sept. 3 to 12, the city of Scottsdale will host a tribute to the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives in terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The memorial display at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts features a card bearing the name and photo of every person who died in the terrorist attacks 20 years ago.

The cards are displayed in the center's atrium on temporary structures representing the twin towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Flight 93. Cards honoring the first responders who died in the attacks line the side of a structure representing the American flag.

Mike Penchina still gets tears in his eyes when he speaks about the 16 firemen he counted as friends who died while doing their jobs on 9/11. Penchina, who's lived in Scottsdale for the past four years, worked as a firefighter for the New York City Fire Department for 20 years before retiring in 1991.

He and his wife were in Canada for their wedding anniversary on Sept. 11, 2001. But when he heard the news, Penchina returned to New York City with his firefighting gear in hand because he knew he was needed. He spent the next nine months sifting through wreckage alongside others, desperately trying to find survivors, and then remains to bury.

"I was glad to be there, to help out," Penchina said. "But to this day, I still feel guilty that I couldn't find anybody."

It was a good day for the workers when they found a body part in the wreckage, Penchina said, because that meant a family had something to bury. He still remembers the day they found a man's hand with a wedding ring on it because it might give the man's wife some semblance of closure.

Penchina is a member of the retired FDNY Phoenix division, which was involved in putting together the display.

"It's great that people that weren't from New York ... or who weren't from the area get to see what really happened that day," Penchina said. He believes it's important to see the faces of those who lost their lives.

"It doesn't get better. It really doesn't," Penchina said. "As far as I'm concerned, there's no such thing as closure."

He thinks of his firefighter friends lost in the attacks sometimes when he's on vacation, playing on a golf course one of them might have liked, and especially during reunions when he's with other retired firefighters.

"They died doing their job that they loved," Penchina said. "Every one of them, if they were alive today, would do it again tomorrow. You can take that to the bank."

He also thinks it's important to note that while 343 New York firefighters died on 9/11, almost as many have lost their lives since then to ailments such as cancer from breathing in carcinogenic dust that filled the air after the attacks.

Penchina hopes that the people looking at the memorial display realize that a terrorist attack could happen again on American soil.

"This is what happens when people in foreign lands hate our guts," he said. "It could happen tomorrow. This has got nothing to do with politics. It could happen when anybody is president."

Scottsdale began in 2009 displaying the 2,977 cards honoring all of those who died in the terror attacks, but past tributes were much smaller and were only displayed for one day, the anniversary date.

The last time the city did a large-scale tribute like the one on display now was for the 15-year anniversary in 2016. The cards featuring the names of the deceased were created and donated by Scottsdale resident Lisa Vella.

"There are really no words for it," said Matt Brooks while looking at the tribute Thursday. "It's beautiful and tragic."

Brooks is a volunteer and cadet with the Scottsdale Fire Department. Tragedies like 9/11 are one of the reasons he wants to become a firefighter. Thinking about the attacks on 9/11 is a surreal experience for Brooks, as he was only 1 year old at the time.

Also part of the display is the National Unity Flag, an enormous flag made up of the smaller flags representing all of the U.S. states and territories, with a middle panel honoring all those who lost their lives on 9/11. The flag, which has been displayed across the country, is the brainchild of local writer and businessman Philip Rankin Cooney.

The tribute in Scottsdale is also marked with a piece of steel from one of the twin towers, acquired by local retired FDNY firefighter Tom Brock. Penchina provided items and photos for display from the search and rescue efforts.

"To have this 2,500 miles away [from New York City], ... it's special," Brock said.

He knew six first responders who died that day, as well as countless other civilians inside the towers when they fell. He grew up five miles from the World Trade Center and said he watched the towers being built.

It's still difficult for Brock to fly into New York City and see the towers missing from the skyline.

Brock credits Lori Schmidt, public information officer for the Scottsdale Fire Department, for leading the effort to put all the pieces of the tribute together.

The 9/11 display in the atrium of the Scottsdale Center for Performing arts is free and open to the public. The center is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Doors will open early at 10 a.m. on Sept. 11.

A special ceremony is set for the 20th anniversary on Sept. 11. The names of those who lost their lives in the attacks will be read in the atrium, beginning at 1 p.m. A 9/11 remembrance ceremony is set for 3 p.m. in the adjacent Virginia G. Piper Theater.