Commit to help veterans, Illinois VA leader says at 9/11 remembrance at Wood Dale company

After a moment of silence in honor of the 9/11 anniversary, taps was played Tuesday in the lobby of AAR Corp. headquarters in Wood Dale, where veterans make up about 25% of the 400-person workforce.

Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs Director Terry Prince spoke about his memories of the terrorist attacks 20 years ago and urged everyone to get involved to pay back the sacrifices those veterans made.

"Two million people have deployed since 9/11 occurred, and over 7,000 service members have been killed," he said. "This 9/11, and really every day of our lives, we need to commit ourselves to the service of others."

He urged the group to volunteer at events and to check on neighbors who are veterans.

"Far too much time is spent online making comments, and I always think that if they take some of that energy, even one-tenth of what they use, we'd be so much better off," he said about volunteering.

He spoke of Todd Beamer, a Wheaton College alumnus and one of the United Airlines Flight 93 passengers who overtook hijackers and crashed the jet in a Pennsylvania field before the terrorists could use it as a weapon.

"The passengers took the plane down and forever etched themselves in history as winning the first battle of 9/11," he said.

Employees at AAR Corp., an aviation services company, will tie yellow ribbons on trees around the Wood Dale campus on Wednesday. The ribbons will remain there throughout September.