Aurora ceremony honors families of fallen Mariness
Family and honor will play important roles in Aurora’s ceremony remembering the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11.
Families of four Aurora Marines who lost their lives in Iraq during the War on Terror will be honored with a flag-folding ceremony during the city’s official remembrance event at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 9, at Aurora Central Fire Station, 75 N. Broadway St.
The Aurora Fire Department’s Honor Guard will fold flags for the families of the following Marines:
Ÿ Capt. Timothy Louis Ryan, who died in 2003 at age 30
Ÿ Lance Cpl. Hector Ramos, who died in 2005 at age 20
Ÿ Pvt. Edwardo Junior Lopez, who died in 2006 at age 21
Ÿ Lance Cpl. Jesse Dan DeLaTorre, who died in 2007 at age 29
The police department’s Honor Guard also will participate in the remembrance by playing taps and conducting a 21-gun salute.
“I’m kind of excited about the fact that we’re going to have our police honor guard and our fire honor guard both working in conjunction with each other,” Deputy Fire Chief John Lehman said.
The ceremony will include comments from Mayor Tom Weisner, Fire Chief Hal Carlson, Police Chief Greg Thomas, and Tom Jones, a Darien man who was in the World Trade Center when planes struck the buildings.
Jones will “give a brief firsthand account of what unfolded that day,” Carlson said.
Fire Chaplain Gerald Rygh and Police Senior Chaplain Jerome “Father Jerry” Leake will open and close the ceremony with brief prayers.
“This is the 10th anniversary, but it’s important to understand that we’ve remembered this event every single year,” Lehman said. “The fire service has recognized it was a big event in our history and we want to make sure we don’t forget.”
Madrigal singers from West Aurora High School will sing the national anthem and Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps members from East Aurora High School will lead the Pledge of Allegiance.
The ceremony is scheduled to take place outside, but in the event of stormy weather it will be moved inside to the Central Fire Station’s garage.
Once the ceremony concludes, the Aurora Regional Fire Museum, 53 N. Broadway St., will host an open house featuring an exhibit of about 15 photos called “Ground Level: September 11-14.”
“It’s all about what it looked like there on the ground,” said David Lewis, curator of the fire museum.
Two display cases with items showing how the terrorist attacks affected Aurora — one about six Aurora firefighters who ventured to New York to help with recovery efforts and another about residents who showed a renewed spirit of patriotism — also can be viewed at the museum.
“I think my favorite object is sort of a very poignant memory book, a scrapbook done by the young daughter of one of the firefighters who responded,” Lewis said. “That really brings it home that here we are in the midst of this tragedy, and yet that’s what firefighters do, they respond.”
If you go
What: Sept. 11 remembrance ceremony
When: 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 9
Where: Aurora Central Fire Station, 75 N. Broadway St., Aurora
Cost: Free
Info: aurora-il.org