About 30 community members joined the Evanston Police Department, Evanston Fire Department and Evanston Firefighters Association Local 742 to commemorate the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
The event, against the backdrop of a large American flag hanging on a fire truck, was held at Firefighter’s Park on Thursday.
Standing next to a memorial honoring three Evanston firefighters killed in the line of duty, State Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview) spoke about how 9/11 started out as an ordinary day, but ended in tragedy.
In honoring those who died, Fine said the most important thing to remember is the courage people showed.
“We remember the firefighters who climbed stairwells knowing they may never descend again to see their families, the paramedics who carried strangers to safety,” Fine said. “These were not just acts of heroism. They were acts of love — love for humankind.”
Mayor Daniel Biss recalled standing in line to donate blood in the aftermath of the terrorist attack. He, among others waiting with him, wanted to do something to help — a reflection of the “human capacity for collaboration and helping and compassion,” he said.
Biss expressed concern that these values aren’t reflected in today’s society.
“I have to tell you, sometimes I worry that we learned the opposite of the right lessons, that the lesson of Sept. 11 should have been one of peace, and yet we’ve so often chosen war,” he said. “It should have been one of unity, and we’ve so often chosen division. It should have been one of pluralism, and we’ve so often chosen sectarianism.”
State Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-Glenview) said she remembers communities coming together to grieve and overcome the event. She added that this is more important today, in light of recent acts of “political violence” in Minnesota and Utah.
In Utah, conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed while speaking at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.
Earlier in the summer, Minn. State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were fatally shot in their home on the same June day that Minn. State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were also shot in their home.
These acts “threaten the very fabric of democracy,” Gong-Gershowitz said.
“Let us honor the memory of the heroes of 9/11 by recommitting ourselves to unity, to compassion and to healing,” she said.
Evanston Fire Chief Paul Polep drew attention to another modern crisis — the mental health struggles faced by first responders. Along with remembering the tragedy that took the lives of nearly 3,000 people, Polep said he also remembers that first responders face tragedies every day.
About 30% of first responders develop post-traumatic stress disorders or depression, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
“Everyone’s there for you, and just remember it’s a constant battle, a constant tragedy that we deal with on a daily basis,” Polep said. “So just keep those folks in your heart as we’re keeping the ones that we’ve lost 24 years ago in our heart today.”
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