U.S. Navy veteran John Heidenreich, known locally as “The Saluting Sailor,” creates a Sept. 11 remembrance display near Bubba’s 33 Restaurant at 22175 Eureka Road in Taylor.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
TAYLOR – U.S. Navy veteran John Heidenreich, known as “The Saluting Sailor,” continued his tradition of remembering those who died on 9/11 with a roadside display near Bubba’s 33 Restaurant, 22175 Eureka.
Flags snapped in the breeze, photographs bearing iconic images rested on easels, and banners lining the nearby sidewalks served as silent testimony to the 2,977 victims who died the day of the attacks.
Heidenreich said this is the seventh year he has commemorated 9/11, continuing a tradition of respect he began in 2014 on Veterans Day.
“I salute three major events a year: Memorial Day, September 11 and Veterans Day,” he said.
Heidenreich said he remembers the heartfelt emotions he experienced as events unfolded 23 years ago, and those memories would surge to the forefront during each commemoration of the attacks.
A Sept. 11 remembrance display created by U.S. Navy veteran John Heidenreich, known locally as “The Saluting Sailor,” draws visitors to the site, near Bubba’s 33 Restaurant at 22175 Eureka Road in Taylor.
“Before 2018, I would sit at home, watch a lot of the footage, and I would get really sad and depressed,” he said. “I would also do an 11-mile run just for myself on 9/11, and just running around the neighborhood you didn’t see many people honoring them, so I thought why not honor them my way.”
Heidenreich said the memorial wall, consisting of 30 white vinyl banners, stretches 245 feet.
“I also purchased some three-by-five flags that are 9/11 themed, and I wanted to display those, so we have them up,” he said. “And I went to a local artist to see if he could make my own Twin Towers, so they are five feet tall by two feet wide.”
Heidenreich said he also had similar replicas built of the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building.
He said people who stopped by to walk through the display share their 9/11 stories, and some look up the names of people whom they knew who died that day.
“They’re just very emotional and moved, and they are very thankful that someone is caring about them and does all this work for them,” Heidenreich said.
A Sept. 11 remembrance display created by U.S. Navy veteran John Heidenreich, known locally as “The Saluting Sailor,” draws visitors to the site, near Bubba’s 33 Restaurant at 22175 Eureka Road in Taylor.
He said the young adults who stop by to see the display were children when the events unfolded, and now they can better understand what occurred on that day.
“To see all the names is pretty amazing,” he said, pointing to the banners.
Heidenreich said he gets the most visitors in the evening, when people are getting off work.
He hopes his remembrance display will remind people to take a moment to remember the people who lost their lives on the day of the 9/11 attacks.
“It’s not the number that matters,” he said. “It’s the broken families and the thousands of families that were interrupted because they lost a loved one.
“Life is precious. Don’t take anything for granted.”
A Sept. 11 remembrance display created by U.S. Navy veteran John Heidenreich, known locally as “The Saluting Sailor,” draws visitors to the site, near Bubba’s 33 Restaurant at 22175 Eureka Road in Taylor.
A Sept. 11 remembrance display created by U.S. Navy veteran John Heidenreich, known locally as “The Saluting Sailor,” draws visitors to the site, near Bubba’s 33 Restaurant at 22175 Eureka Road in Taylor.