On Saturday a traveling 9/11 exhibit will bring firsthand accounts of the attacks and aftermath to Sioux Falls. The touring exhibit serves as a tribute to the victims and heroes of September 11th, but it's also designed to involve as many people as possible in contributing to the National September 11th Memorial and Museum.

As crews spent the day setting up the 9/11 exhibit, Greg Santa Maria stopped by to get a sneak peak.

"When a day like that happens you know that your life is changed forever and you totally take a different path," Santa Maria says.

Santa Maria was an EMS manager for a hospital in lower Manhattan when the towers fell in 2001, but relocated to South Dakota three years ago. Now he's one more reason why the traveling tribute is having a big impact.

"Those connections spread out really across the world so it's so important to do this tour," says Joe Daniels, President of the National Memorial and Museum Foundation.

The exhibit features photos from 9/11, artifacts from ground zero and a movie featuring first hand accounts from survivors and first responders. But perhaps the biggest highlight of the exhibit is an actual beam that will be used in the construction of the memorial, which each visitor can sign their name on.

Daniels says each small sign of support is important because the beams will support a truly national memorial.

"We see this memorial as something like the Statue of Liberty," Daniels says. "It's going to say something about who we are as Americans, so we need to involve the entire country in building it."

At least one local resident will be happy to sign off.

"Yeah, my name will be up there and etched in time forever I'm sure," Santa Maria says.

There is no cost to view any part of the exhibit or sign the steel beam, but if you go you are encouraged to make a free will donation towards the September 11th Memorial and Museum.

The exhibit is located in the JCPenney parking lot at the Empire Mall. It opens Saturday with a special ceremony at 10 a.m. and closes at 6 p.m.

By Kent Erdahl