She told him ‘she loved him’: United Airlines remembers 9/11 crews who perished as suburbs mark 25 years
Twenty-five years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the grim events are still personal for many United Airlines employees who gathered for a memorial Friday in Arlington Heights.
A hundred victims died when hijackers flew United Flight 175 into the World Trade Center’s south tower and Flight 93 crashed into a Pennsylvania field as people on board fought back.
Those lost included flight attendant CeeCee Lyles, who phoned her husband shortly before Flight 93 went down.
Their conversation was recorded and shared with United’s Laura Allen, who supported Lyles’ family during the crisis.
“I heard her voice, remarkably calm in the final moments of her life, telling him she loved him, sending her love to her children and hoping she would see his face again,” Allen said during the outdoor ceremony at United’s Arlington Support Center.
“We remember Sept. 11 as a date in history — but behind that history are names, behind those names are people, and behind those people are family and friends who loved them and continue to carry their stories today,” said Allen, managing director of network operations safety compliance and human factors.
A total of 2,977 people were killed in the catastrophe when terrorists also sabotaged American Airlines Flight 11, targeting the WTC’s north tower, and American Flight 77, which they flew into the Pentagon.
United leaders dedicated an outdoor bench as a place for reflection and conversation next to a Sept. 11 commemorative granite boulder.
Some employees wiped away tears and gave each other hugs, while several speakers battled with their emotions.
United Vice President of Network Operations Joe Heins was friends with Jason Dahl, the captain of Flight 93.
“My thoughts that day immediately turned to his family,” recalled Heins, a pilot.
“Twenty-five years is a profound milestone — long enough for an entire generation to come of age. Many of us remember exactly where we were on Sept. 11, 2001. We remember the uncertainty, the fear, and the realization our country, our industry and our lives would never be the same again,” Heins noted.
United Vice President of Inflight Services and Catering Operations Michielle Sego-Johnson joined others reading aloud the names of crew members killed on Sept. 11.
She was working for Delta Air Lines as a flight attendant when the news broke.
“I was with members of my team that morning, and someone came in and said, ‘something’s happening! There’s a plane that hit the towers,’” Sego-Johnson recounted.
“And we all just ran to the TV … and were sobbing in disbelief. The whole airline community rallied around United and American. It brought everyone together.”
Arlington Heights Mayor Jim Tinaglia told attendees, “I’m humbled to join you here today. In a time when sometimes folks try to forget about history and maybe want to move past it, these are the things that we can never forget.”
A region remembers
Other communities, including Elgin, marked the moment.
“Twenty-five years ago, the world witnessed the absolute worst of humanity, but we also witnessed the absolute best of the human spirit,” Elgin Police Chaplain Al Keating said at a remembrance on the steps of city hall.
Assistant Fire Chief Mike Rothecker noted that since Sept. 11 “we carry with us the stories of both tragedy and triumph that have become part of our national consciousness.”
“On one of the darkest days in our nation’s history, we witnessed extraordinary examples of courage, compassion and selflessness,” he said. “People helped strangers. Communities came together. Firefighters, police officers, paramedics, members of our military, health care workers, construction workers, volunteers, and ordinary citizens stepped forward and asked a simple question: ‘What can I do to help?’”
About 150 people gathered at Wauconda’s Heroes of Freedom Memorial for a commemoration.
“So when we ask how to honor the memory of the firefighters, officers and medics we lost that day, I don’t think the answer is complicated,” Wauconda Fire Protection District Chief Curt Hanselman said. “Even if living up to it is hard, we honor them by training like it matters, every shift, because it does. We honor them by taking care of each other, checking in, showing up, not letting anyone carry this job alone.
“We honor them by remembering that the uniform means something bigger than one department,” Hanselman noted. “Whatever patch is on your shoulder, whatever town you serve — you belong to the same family as the 343 who didn’t come home. That was true before Sept. 11, and that remains true today.”
Daily Herald staff writers Paul Valade and Rick West contributed to this report.
mpyke@dailyherald.com