Suburban residents gather to remember Sept. 11 attacks

LOMBARD

In Lombard, it's symbols and actions that count when words just aren't enough.

During the village's annual "We Remember" event, local officials opted for ceremony over long speeches to remember the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"This morning is not a time for speeches, but a time for prayer and remembrance," said Lombard Village President William Mueller.

Approximately 100 rescue workers, residents and local officials gathered in front of Lombard Fire Station No. 1 Thursday, while patriotic music drifted from speakers on the lawn. During the 45-minute memorial service, which started at the moment the first jet hit the World Trade Center in 2001, Fire Chief George Seagraves recounted each major event of the attacks.

His speech was accompanied by a flag raising, the Pledge of Allegiance, a bell-ringing ceremony that honors the bell codes of New York firefighters, bagpipe music and a moment of silence. Robert Hatfield, senior pastor of First Church of Lombard, also led the group in prayer.

"There is a tremendous amount of symbolism today because it's important we do remember," Seagraves said after the ceremony. "As time passes we all sort of forget, and I don't think we should forget Pearl Harbor or any other major events in our history. We should remember them and how they all affected our country."

At the ceremony's end, Village Clerk Brigitte O'Brian read a village resolution urging Lombard residents to honor those who died in the attacks through volunteerism and community service.

Mary Mae Meyer, president of the Lombard Garden Club, said she showed up to Thursday's service to honor local firefighters and police, who she called "our aces," and to show her national pride.

"We owe our freedom to our ancestors and this is one small way we can show our patriotism and pass it down to future generations," she said. "These are somber reminders of those moments of who we are and what we stand for."

Lombard resident Arlene Difino said keeping the memory of Sept. 11 alive is the first step in preventing a national complacency that could allow future terrorist attacks.

"There were so many (attacks) before 9-11 that got ignored," she said. "But now people are remembering."

-- Elisabeth Mistretta

HUNTLEY

In the days following Sept. 11, 2001, 23 students in Jon Grell's fifth-grade class at Leggee Elementary School in Huntley wrote letters to friends and family members, attempting to explain what happened while trying to comprehend the gravity of the situation.

Those letters remained sealed in individual envelopes until Thursday, the seventh anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

More than a dozen of Grell's former students, now seniors at Huntley High School, returned to the elementary school Thursday to read the letters to current fifth-grade students.

"I think it was a very big day for everybody and I think it was a full day before we realized the enormity of it and the impact it would have on the children at the time," said Grell, who is on active duty as a Navy reservist and could not attend Thursday's event.

What many of the students expressed in letters was anger and mournfulness, fear and uncertainty.

"I am sad and mad that they aimed at our World Trade Centers and crashed our planes into the top and middle," wrote Samantha Clemons, 17, from Lake in the Hills.

"I am very scared," classmate Elise Sulana wrote. "I think there will be a war."

After reading his three-page letter, Jose Montenegro told the students - who were three or four when the attacks happened - to keep the memory of that day alive.

"We remembered the day so we could tell you what happened so you could tell fifth graders in seven years what happened, so things that happened won't happen again," the 17-year-old from Huntley said.

While the seniors said they did not remember much about the day of the attacks, many said reading the letters and hearing their classmates' stories evoked memories they had shut out.

"I could tell by my letter that I was confused about what was going on," said Kaylee O'Brien, 17, from Lake in the Hills. "I don't remember everything that went on but a lot of it came flooding back like it happened yesterday."

Nick Cichy, a fifth-grader who turned 11 on Thursday, said he learned a lot from the seniors.

"It was a very sad day for everyone," he said.

Cichy's classmate, Matt Brannon, 10, said he remembers listening to the news on the car radio and his father telling him about the hijacked planes that crashed into the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon.

"It was a sad day that we should never forget," Brannon said. "It is a very big part of the nation."

-- Larissa Chinwah

SOUTH ELGIN

Tasked with both remembering and moving forward, hundreds of Elgin Area School District U-46 students gathered at South Elgin High School Thursday for a Sept. 11 ceremony.

Sponsored by the Village of South Elgin and the South Elgin Fire Department, the 9:15 ceremony in the school's auditorium was led by Fire Chief Joe Cluchey.

"We really try to promote better understanding and better options than violence so that you, this next generation, don't have to hold a commemoration like this," Cluchey told fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students from Willard, Fox Meadow and Clinton elementary schools. "We do look back, but our focus is forward."

William Luchsinger, an Army staff sergeant and South Elgin firefighter/paramedic, gave the keynote address on selfless service, the theme of the ceremony. Luchsinger served in Iraq for a year, returning home this summer.

"Try to imagine what your town, your school would be like without engaged citizens," he said.

Tuesday's ceremony was the last time Luchsinger will ever don his Army uniform, he said. He's returning to civilian life and to his South Elgin post to focus on caring for his family and future generations, he said.

Jasmin Duncan, Arianna Nutile and Katie Balk read essays on "selfless service," selected from more than 300 student entries.

"Selfless service," said Jasmin, a fifth-grader at Clinton, told the crowd, "means doing things on your own, like helping the elderly, helping the poor and taking care of the earth."

After the student speeches, U-46 Superintendent Jose Torres spoke about the giving of hope, to parallel the hope that people felt in the wake of Sept. 11. Like firefighters and police officers, teachers and school staffers instill hope in students through everyday actions, he said.

"We're counting on you," he told both teachers and students.

Tuesday's ceremony concluded with the tolling of a bell in memory of the lives lost in the terrorist attacks, followed by "God Bless America" sung by the South Elgin High School choir.

-- Kerry Lester

LIBERTYVILLE

Although the crowd at Libertyville High School's annual Sept. 11 ceremony was filled with patriotism Thursday, co-Principal Jim Whittington acknowledged that Patriot Day is not a joyous occasion.

It is, however, important to pass on remembrances of the 2001 terrorist attacks to future generations, Whittington told the students, teachers and visitors at the event.

That way, he said, "it will stay with you for a much longer time."

The Libertyville High event was one of several in Lake County. In Vernon Hills, Hawthorn Elementary District 73 students planted thousands of daffodil bulbs at two sites near the schools.

In Lake Forest, police officers and firefighters came together for a remembrance ceremony in Market Square.

In Winthrop Harbor, the fire department was set to observe the anniversary by dedicating a new ladder truck at night.

Guests at the Libertyville High event included local police officers and firefighters.

A group of uniformed representatives from a local Veterans of Foreign Wars group fired three rifle volleys during the ceremony, which saw a new flag raised on the pole in front of the school. Taps and "The Star-Spangled Banner" were played, too, and representatives from the school spoke.

Also in the audience were the widow and children of former Libertyville High security guard Harry Croon, who died nearly a year ago at the age of 71.

Before joining Libertyville High, Croon was an FBI agent who helped investigate the 1964 disappearance and murders of three civil rights workers in what became known as the Mississippi Burning case.

The school honored Croon by presenting his family with the flag that had flown outside the school since Sept. 11, 2007.

"It's the highest honor," said daughter Monique Croon. "It's just so humbling."

-- Russell Lissau

HOFFMAN ESTATES

Ceremonies were held this morning around the suburbs in remembrance of the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Firefighters, police officers, officials and residents gathered in towns including Palatine, Hoffman Estates, Mount Prospect, Des Plaines and Glenview to pay tribute to the nearly 3,000 Americans who lost their lives that day.

"We as a nation can never forget," said Palatine Mayor Rita Mullins, "and do what we can to live an exemplary life."

In Palatine, dozens of residents joined more than 30 firefighters and police at the Palatine Firefighters Memorial. There was a moment of silence and members of the Fremd High School band played "God Bless America" and "Amazing Grace."

-- Kimberly Pohl

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