Harper College hosts emotional tribute to 9/11 victims
Like most people, when Sam Giordano heard a plane had hit the World Trade Center, he hoped it was an accident.
An active duty firefighter in the suburbs, his thoughts immediately went to the first responders, in particular two cousins who were firefighters with the FDNY.
In the chaos that followed Sept. 11, it took several days to learn for certain that his cousins, brothers John and Jeff Giordano, both died that day at the World Trade Center.
“They were doing their job,” said Giordano, who has been in fire service 35 years and now is a professor of fire science technology at Harper College.
“We take an oath to save lives and we know that, but they made the ultimate sacrifice.”
On Thursday, Giordano joined hundreds of others in the courtyard at Harper College in Palatine to honor the memory of all those who lost their lives.
Many choked back emotion, looking out over the nearly 3,000 flags planted in the courtyard that represent the lives lost on 9/11.
“These are not flags. They are our fellow Americans,” said Harper College President Ken Ender.
“They’re resting in the arms of their loved ones.”
One family from Palatine came with members of all ages — from a great-grandfather who served in World War II to 4-year-old Jack Daly, smiling and pushing a flag into the ground to honor a tragedy that happened before he was born.
“Someday we’ll tell him about this sad anniversary,” said his grandmother Linda Schmidt of Palatine.
Army Sgt. Matt Romano has no trouble recalling that day.
He walked into an eerily quiet chow hall on his Kentucky Army base that morning to see his friends gathered silently around the television.
“I got there just in time to see the second plane hit,” he said.
Romano’s unit became one of the first deployed to Afghanistan in February 2002, and later to Iraq in 2003.
Now the president of Harper College’s Veterans Association, Romano still has a difficult time thinking about the lives lost.
“The flags are a nice gesture,” he said, wiping his eyes. “It’s just sad what they represent.”
Current Harper students, many who were in elementary school in 2001, stopped at the ceremony between classes to plant a flag and take a moment.
“It just shows a sign of respect,” said Christin White, who was 10 when the twin towers fell and remembers not quite understanding the magnitude of the day.
Looking over the sea of flags, she said the tragedy truly hit her. “This just makes it more realistic,” White said.
Giordano said he will go to Mass Sunday morning and then place two plaques at the base of his personal memorial flag in his backyard. He will be joined by his three children, including his oldest son, a police officer.
“It’s been 10 years, and I think some people forget, the memory fades,” Giordano said. “But we need to remember what the Stars and Stripes stand for, and the sacrifices these people have made for us.”
He held a poem by his niece, written in 2000 when she was a fifth-grader. “My Heart Starts Pounding” is about how scary it is to have a firefighter for a father:
A fire roars,A red truck soars,I hear the sirens; my heart starts pounding.The brave firemen go for a ride,And I wonder, #147;Is my Dad inside?#148;I hear the sirens; my heart starts pounding.The smoke is thick and black,But the Firefighter soldiers don#146;t look back.I hear the sirens; my heart starts pounding.They risk their lives to rescue others,Always remembering, they are Brothers.I hear the sirens; my heart starts pounding.I pray so hard, with all my might,The doorbell rings, Dad#146;s home tonight.Thank you, God. My heart stops pounding.
Victoria Giordano#146;s dad, Jeff, was with Ladder Company 3, which lost 12 members on Sept. 11 as they evacuated civilians from the North Tower. Her uncle, John, was with Hazardous Materials Company 1. He also died at the towers.