Huntley’s Police and Huntley Fire Protection District and Huntley American Legion Honor Guard leaders recalled the impacts of the terrorists’ attacks on September 11, 2001, at a village ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of that fateful day. Huntley Mayor Tim Hoeft also gave remarks.
Terrorists killed about 3,000 people, using four airplanes at the World Trade Center towers north and south, the Pentagon in Arlington,Virginia and passengers and crew fought back to crash an airplane at Shanksville, Pennslyvania.
Audience members wore patriotic shirts to catch the spirit of the day.
Tom Smith of Sun City was working as a commander in the Palatine Police Department when terrorists struck the United States on September 11, 2001. He proudly wears a “9/11” hat.
Smith recalled his visit to Ground Zero where the World Trade Centers collapsed in New York City.
“I went to Ground Zero the next May,” he said. “We went to check in at the officer at the desk, who told someone to take us to Ground Zero,” Smith said at Huntley’s ceremony recognizing the 25th anniversary of 9/11. We went through several floors.”
Huntley Fire Chief Dan Wagner remembers the day, as he was a firefighter at Elgin Fire Department.
“What I remember most, though, are the people still working,” Huntley Fire Chief Dan Wagner said. “FDNY firefighters were there around the clock. They were tired. They were grieving. They were covered in dust. Yet they kept searching. They were looking for their brother and sister firefighters. And they never gave up looking for the thousands of innocent lives lost. That, to me, is one of the most powerful images of September 11. Not just the firefighters running into burning buildings, who, after losing hundreds of their own, kept going back into the ruins because they refused to leave their fellow firefighters behind and they refused to stop searching for the people they were sworn to serve.”
Wagner added that many felt a sense to join military service, and it went to war, with our veterans who carried that fight, for more than two decades, standing watch in places most of us will never see.
“Flags appeared on homes, businesses, bridges, and overpasses,” Hooten said. “Communities supported first responders. We grieved together, prayed together, and stood together. It should not require a tragedy for us to remember we have far more in common than we sometimes allow ourselves to believe. September 11 reminds us that evil does not have the final word. Today the legacy we have a responsibility to carry forward. For those of us who were in uniform that day, September 11 is more than a chapter in our nation’s history. It reminds us of the responsibility that comes with the badge, the uniform and the oath we have taken.”
Hooten noted the immediate impacts of September 11.
“May we never forget September 11, 2001,” Hooten said. “But just as importantly, may we never forget who we became on September 12. God bless those we lost, God bless the survivors, God bless those who continue to serve and God bless the United States of America.”
Huntley Fire Department Battalion Chief Steve Young, who joined the fire department profession shortly after 9/11, performed “Amazing Grace” on bagpipes, and a bell service, which notes the beginning and the end of a shift, was performed as well.
Huntley Fire Protection District Lt. Matt Schulien and Lt. Chris Jagels performed the firefighters’ bell service. Active Army Reserve Chaplain Amy Feltis performed taps.
