Retired Chicago Fire Department District Chief Glen Lyman looked out at the large crowd that gathered for the Oak Lawn 9/11 ceremony Friday morning and posed a question.
“If you were born after 2001, raise your hand,” Lyman said. “Most of you have learned about 9/11 from history books or someone told you about it. That’s why we are here; to make sure you know and never forget.”
Many students and young adults in attendance raised their hands. Lyman, who served 36 years with the Chicago Fire Department, was the guest speaker marking the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on American soil that took place on Sept. 11, 2001.
Oak Lawn firefighters, police officers, local officials, residents, and students were present for the ceremony at the Metra Patriot Train Station, which features beams and relics from the World Trade Center wreckage.
Sculptures of firefighters and police officers are depicted at the train station. The sculptures were created by Erik Blome and first appeared at the station 15 years ago.
Despite the passage of time, Lyman can recall the day vividly. He said it was an unusually warm day, much like today, with a clear blue sky. But the calm on that Tuesday morning soon ceased, he said.
At 7:46 a.m. Central Standard time, a Boeing 767 plowed through the upper portion of the north tower of the World Trade Center. Seventeen minutes after many Americans began to view footage on TV, United Airlines Flight 175 seared the adjoining tower. It was at that point Lyman and many Americans knew this was no accident.
Reports followed nearly a half hour later that another plane — American Airlines Flight 77 — tore through a western portion of the Pentagon. And less than a half hour later were reports that United Airlines Flight 93 had crashed in Shanksville, Pa. Later the news came that passengers and crew members on Flight 93 stormed the cockpit after learning about the attacks in New York and the Pentagon. They prevented the hijackers from crashing somewhere in Washington, D.C. The destination may have been the U.S. Capitol or the White House.
Lyman said that we would also learn later that day that 19 hijackers armed with box cutters took over planes taking off from Boston and then crashed through the twin towers. Another flight left from Newark, N.J., for San Francisco but crashed in Pennsylvania.
The plane that crashed into the Pentagon departed from Washington Dulles Airport in Virginia and resulted in all 64 lives from the aircraft lost while another 125 in the building perished. The plane crash in Pennsylvania resulted in all 44 on board killed.
Including the tragedy in New York City, 2,997 people were killed. In that total were 343 New York firefighters. Another 72 victims were police officers.
After hearing about the fatalities and the search taking place in New York, Lyman, like thousands of other firefighters and police officers across the nation, decided to go and help.
“I remember when we were driving in and we could see a cloud of haze at the site,” Lyman recalled. “The film footage doesn’t due it justice. It was unbelievable how large that devastation was.”
Lyman attended the ceremony because he is close friends with Oak Lawn Fire Chief Patrick Kehoe.
Before the event, live audio of the ceremony at Ground Zero in New York was provided as relatives of the victims recited all the names of their loved ones who died during the tragedy.
Usually, six separate bell tolls are rung for the victims at the New York ceremony but a seventh was added this year honoring the lives of first responders who later died or suffered injuries during the cleanup at Ground Zero. Many of them succumbed to various diseases due to the air quality at the site.
“We knew the air quality wasn’t good and didn’t know about what the long-time effects were,” Lyman said.
Along with Lyman and Kehoe, also attending the ceremony were Oak Lawn trustees Benjamin Warren (1st), Alex Olejniczak (2nd), Jamie Pembroke (4th), and Ralph Soch (6th).
Worth Township Supervisor Patricia Joan Murphy and former state representative Fran Hurley also attended the ceremony.
The Oak Lawn Community High School Choir performed My Country ‘Tis of Thee and America the Beautiful. A choir from Sward Elementary School performed a song entitled Sing.
Students from St. Linus Elementary School were also in attendance. The Rev. Mark Walter, pastor at St. Linus, provided prayers to open and close the ceremony.
Olejniczak, who also serves as an Oak Lawn Fire Department liaison, said that Sept. 11, 2001, was a day of catastrophic loss. But he was quick to laud the efforts of first responders who were assisting in trying to save lives.
“They made the ultimate sacrifice, and we remember families who suffered such loss,” Olejniczak said. “Twenty-five years have passed but we will not forget.”
Daniel Vittorio, who is the current Oak Lawn police chief, recalled that the day was sunny and nothing seemed unusual as he worked his shift for the village. But then the first plane hit the World Trade Center.
“I noticed afterwards that there was not a plane in the sky,” Vittorio said. “It’s funny what you notice when something like this happens. We remember police officers and firefighters going into those buildings. We remember their bravery.”
A bagpiper led the Johnson-Phelps VFW Post 5220 Color Guard in a procession at the beginning and conclusion of the ceremony.
