Have You Forgotten?
Trucks are rolling memorials to 9-11
Bette Garber
Contributing Editor
—Have You Forgotten—*
"Have you forgotten how it felt that day?
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away?"
*Darryl Worley and Wynn Varble
© 2003 EMI April Music Inc./Pittsburgh Landing Songs (ASCAP)
These days, "crazy" and "amazing" are the two most overworked words in John and Amy Holmgren's vocabulary.
In 2002 the Shafer, Minn., couple, over-the-road truckers for more than 20 years, decided to transform their present tractor-trailer into a rolling memorial to the heroes and victims of the events of Sept. 11, 2001. A song by country artist Darryl Worley, "Have You Forgotten?" inspired the Holmgrens and pointed the way to the truck's theme and graphics.
Their previous truck featured a small mural honoring 9-11.
"People took notice. That started us thinking about creating a special truck that was one entire tribute to the fallen," John recalls.
"Have You Forgotten?" is the name they gave their 1999 Freightliner Century and 53-foot Utility reefer. But just about everyone, including its owners, refer to it as the rolling memorial.
Heroes are saluted on the tractor, which features the names of all policemen, firemen, EMTs, port authority officials - even search dogs. On the trailer are the names of the 3,100 victims from the World Trade Center Twin Towers, Pentagon and four airplanes, integrated with imposing graphics.
This truck has been creating considerable buzz, thanks to a single e-mail launched sometime around the first of the year. John believes its source was someone at a food company in Sterling, Ill., who apparently photographed the truck while the couple was unloading produce.
The e-mail appeared to take on a life of its own, making its electronic way into corners of America having nothing to do with trucking, and causing recipients to take notice and keep forwarding it on. Photos accompanying the e-mail showed only completed portions of the truck because, prior to January, the couple was having trouble coming up with funds to finish the project and the passenger side was without graphics.
Heavy Duty Trucking magazine's editors received their share of forwarded copies, with many of the senders asking, "Have you seen this truck?"
Editorial Director Deb Whistler got so many e-mails, she wrote a column begging people to stop sending them, and promising readers the magazine would run a spread about the decorated truck.
As the e-mail continued to generate interest, requests for appearances followed, along with donations. Sales of T-shirts took off. And in July the final graphics were put in place.
Last month, the Holmgrens were to lead a massive company of motorcycles known as "Ride of the Americas" from the Schwenksville, Pa. 9-11 crash site to New York City. There the rolling memorial was to be put on display for a week.
Interviews were scheduled for the Holmgrens on "Good Morning America" and "The Morning Show," among others.
Inside the truck will be a 34-ft. totem pole carved by the Lummi Indians of northwest (Blaine) Wash. to be delivered to the Pentagon the following week. Two other totems have already been presented to New York City and Schwenksville.
Crazy And Amazing
Make no mistake about it, the Holmgrens are ordinary truckers - self-described "average working stiffs" with a combined 4.5 million accident-free miles under their seatbelts.
They footed the bill to create this truck for the sole purpose of helping to ensure that America never forgets the events collectively known as "9-11." Along they way they have created something extraordinary - and the world is taking notice in ways that leave these unassuming folks shaking their heads in amazement.
"It's crazy," John says. "We can park this anywhere and within five minutes we'll have someone knocking on our door, asking to take photos. We started out with nothing and almost lost it all along the way. If not for the Lord, and our friends, we couldn't have done this."
So how crazy does it get?
One July afternoon he begs off a phone interview because a TV crew from Minneapolis is arriving to launch a film documentary about the truck, which will culminate in the September visit to Ground Zero.
How crazy?
Cellphone rings. It's a U.S. Navy commander at the Pentagon asking the couple to take part in a ceremony for a new battleship. Seems that shortly after 9-11, Governor of New York George Pataki requested the Navy bestow the name "USS New York" on a new surface warship involved in the war on terror, in honor of the victims. Steel taken from the rubble of the World Trade Center will be used in its construction. Estimated completion is 2007.
Can it get crazier?
Cellphone rings: It's entertainers like Lee Greenwood, Reba McIntyre, Jimmy Buffet, Darryl Worley - all recipients of the e-mail, all with offers to host the Holmgrens and their truck at summer concerts.
Worley's call particularly delighted the couple. The title of his hit song, "Have You Forgotten?" is superimposed over artwork on the trailer. Since then, a picture story about the truck has been added to DreamWorks-Nashville's web page for Worley.
The truck is currently featured on at least 37 web sites.
Calls pour in daily from average mom and pop Americans hoping to say hello and thank the couple. One lady called every Holmgren in Minnesota before arriving at John's mother's phone where she finally received the cell number.
That woman and her husband eventually met the Holmgrens at a show in Pennsylvania.
The cellphone number is actually easy to get, listed on www.therollingmemorial.com, which was launched in July 2003. When finished it will include a 360-degree view of the truck.
"If you told me all this would be happening to us 15 months ago, I'd have told you you were crazy," Holmgren laughs.
In addition, Die-Cast Promotions has launched production of a precision 1:64 metal replica of the rolling memorial that will be available in time for Christmas on the company's web site, www.diecastpromotions.com.
Among the many unanticipated results of driving the rolling memorial was meeting families of people whose names are on the truck. The Holmgrens have met several. The daughter of one victim removed her father's memorial bracelet from her wrist and presented it to the couple.
"It was a whole-box-of-Kleenex moment," John recalls. "We were all crying."
View From A Show
Heavy Duty Trucking caught up with the Holmgrens in Kittanning, Pa. Here, the city's Eagles' Post 896 and "Rolling Thunder" firehouse were holding a motorcycle show to raise funds for charity and to christen the city's new park along the Allegheny River.
A few members had received the e-mail while the show was in its planning stages and the group voted to invite John and Amy to be their guests.
The day before the show was scheduled to open, sirens announced the truck's approach. Law enforcement vehicles, a fire engine, and the Holmgren's rig came into view as the late afternoon sun spotlighted the colorful graphics on the driver side of the truck. Many residents came to make the truckers feel welcome; the truck's arrival had been featured in local papers for months.
Spectators surged toward the truck as if pulled by a magnet, falling silent to solemnly contemplate the names of the fallen.
Vinnie Forras, a NYC firefighter who is retired due to health problems resulting from his work at Ground Zero, was a special guest who rode his fire engine red Harley to the show.
His meeting the Holmgrens seemed almost predestined. After receiving the e-mail, he called the couple to invite them to New York City; John was already en route to John F. Kennedy Airport with a delivery when Forras called.
With Forras' connections and the assistance of countless police and firemen, the truck was escorted to Ground Zero (after making its delivery) and allowed to park there for two days without permits of any kind.
Word of the truck spread quickly, thanks to Forras and his friends, and it wasn't long before the members of the victims' families were coming to the site to meet the truckers.
Forras now leads the "Gear Up Foundation," a nonprofit group that locates used fire-fighting equipment, refurbishes and then donates it to impoverished third world nations.
He and the Holmgrens have become fast friends.
Exciting Future
Operating as Rosepath Transportation, the couple transports Roman Meal products West and bring produce back East. They worked closely with their carrier, Can-Am Express, to route pickups and deliveries to their appearances.
Future plans include adding more nonprofit organizations like Forras' to the rolling memorial, developing an educational fund for 9-11 victims' and heroes' children as well as providing financial aid to the families. To that end they are already at work on a benefit concert at Daytona Speedway in Florida next year. And in 2006 they plan on donating their truck to New York City.
For now they continue to deliver freight while making appearances at state fairs, local events, and entertainers' venues, bringing the rolling memorial to Americans throughout the country.
Sidebars
'Enduring Freedom' Continues to Inspire
What's On The Rolling Memorial'?
