Northwest suburbs offer solemn remembrances of 9/11

Solemn bell ceremonies and mournful bagpipers resounded across the suburbs Saturday as communities marked the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.

The overriding theme of the observances was one of remembrance, as civic leaders and first responders alike, pledged to keep alive the memory of those who lost their lives.

"We have grieved, prayed and rebuilt," said Deputy Fire Chief John Malcolm of the Mount Prospect Fire Department, "and we have learned a new way to live since the events of Sept. 11."

The Mount Prospect ceremony, like many others, had to be moved indoors because of rain, but it lost none of its intensity.

Firefighters, police officers and members of the Veterans of Foreign War Post 1337 in Mount Prospect, filled the room, along with community residents, who seemed to stand a little taller and recited the Pledge of Allegiance, a little louder.

"For nine years we have come together like this," said Mayor Irvana Wilks, "to mark the day that our lives changed."

In Palatine, firefighters wearing their dress uniforms stood at attention surrounding the village's Firefighters' Memorial, while more officers turned out in their working protective gear, stood off in a distance, symbolizing the 343 firefighters who died on 9/11.

They had marched to the site from the nearby Station No. 85 in Palatine, and drew a crowd of several hundred residents at the four-year-old memorial, located at North Brockway and West Slade streets.

Palatine firefighter Mark Hallett led his fellow officers as they lowered the American flag to half-staff and placed a wreath at the memorial, before renewing their oath of office.

He described the solemn bell ceremony as a final salute to officers who have died in the line of duty, selflessly giving their lives for the good of their fellow man.

"Their task has been completed," Hallett said. "They are going home."

Hoffman Estates village leaders invited Schaumburg firefighter John Schneidwind back to describe his experiences as a first responder on the scene of the World Trade Center, one day after the attacks.

"It's important to remember that these were real people that died and not just a historical event that happened years ago," said Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod. "He offers personal testimony of the devastation that occurred."

Schneidwind was one of several Northwest suburban firefighters who volunteered to help in the search and rescue operation of the rubble. He and the other firemen set up a nearby camp and slept on the sidewalk during the five days there.

"We did nothing heroic, we didn't save anyone's life, but there was such an unbelievable spirit of volunteerism there," Schneidwind said. "There were so many people there to help us, provide us with whatever we needed.

"We were all volunteers," he added. "We weren't paid to be there, but that's what America does. It reaches out to people."