Carol Stream begins Sept. 11 memorial with beams from World Trade Center

Two steel pieces of the World Trade Center will become part of a permanent memorial in Carol Stream dedicated to the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the emergency personnel who responded that day.

The I-beam support structures will be formally dedicated during a Sept. 11 remembrance ceremony at 8 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 11, in the Glenbard North High School auditorium, 990 N. Kuhn Road.

The beams later will be on permanent display in the lobby of the Carol Stream Fire Protection District headquarters, 365 N. Kuhn Road.

Carol Stream is one of the latest towns to use remnants from World Trade Center buildings in memorials to the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. Also on Sunday, wreckage from the buildings will be dedicated as part of memorials in Carpentersville, Darien, Des Plaines, Huntley, Maine Township and Mundelein.

In 2003, Naperville became one of the first towns in the country to dedicate a Sept. 11 memorial with remnants from that day. The Sept. 11/Cmdr. Dan Shanower Memorial, located behind the city’s municipal center, includes a twisted steel beam from the World Trade Center, a damaged portion of the Pentagon, and granite from Pennsylvania where United Flight 93 crashed.

Carol Stream Fire Inspector Gary Rasmussen, who is organizing Sunday’s ceremony at Glenbard North, said the steel beams are about 3 to 4 feet long, and between 100 and 200 pounds each.

“It’s definitely stressed and bent to show the amount of force, to show what it did,” Rasmussen said.

During the ceremony, the Carol Stream Fire and Police Honor Guard will carry the two beams, covered in an American flag, to the front of the auditorium. As the honor guard folds the flag, members of the Glenbard North band and Gold Tone Choir will play “Amazing Grace.” They will be accompanied by bagpipers from the Carol Stream Fire Protection District, Carol Stream Police Department and Chicago Fire Department.

Officials are planning to host a benefit to raise money to pay for the permanent Sept. 11 memorial at the fire district headquarters.

Also, the ceremony will feature keynote speaker Roger Burgess, assistant principal at Wheaton Christian Grammar School. Burgess was a teacher of Todd Beamer, a passenger who confronted hijackers aboard Flight 93 and helped thwart a fourth terrorist attack believed to be targeted at the White House.

Rasmussen said he met Burgess while doing a fire inspection on the school’s building, which sits within the Carol Stream fire district’s jurisdiction. The two started talking after Rasmussen noticed a copy of “Let’s Roll,” written by Beamer’s wife, Lisa, on Burgess’ desk.

Listening to Burgess, Rasmussen said, provides insight into Beamer’s upbringing.

“A local boy growing up in this area was taught the values of being who he is and what he ultimately did,” Rasmussen said.

The events of Sept. 11 affected everyone, Rasmussen said, from police, firefighters and members of the military to the “ordinary Joes” on Flight 93, in New York, or at the Pentagon.

“Whether you were there at ground zero or 2 or 3,000 miles away, you were saddened and shocked,” he said. “You became one with everybody, that this shouldn’t happen. … We all hurt that day. Let’s do something to memorialize that fateful day.”

If you go

What: Carol Stream Memorial/Remembrance Service for Sept. 11

When: 8 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 11

Where: Glenbard North High School auditorium, 990 N. Kuhn Road, Carol Stream

Info: carolstreamfire.org