Evanston Holds Memorial Ceremony To Remember 9/11 Victims
CHICAGO (CBS) -- First responders in Evanston are among those remembering the sacrifices and loss on this day 16 years ago.
The Evanston Fire and Police Departments held a memorial ceremony on Monday to honor the brave men and women who lost their lives 16 years ago on September 11, 2001.
A honor guard led a small ceremony through Fireman's Park in Evanston, where a large American flag hung from a firetruck ladder.
Evanston Fire Chaplain David Jones said the lessons from the World's Trade Center, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania inspired the nation.
"From those ashes, a whole new generation of firefighters, and police officers, and disaster relief personnel, men and women serving in the military are rising, and serving, and risking," Jones said.
Evanston Fire Chief Brian Scott just visited the memorial at Ground Zero with his 16-year-old son, just nine days ago.
"To my son it was an important educational experience because it was a pivotal moment in American history and you really are never going to get it, unless you lived it and experienced it, but at least he can get some sense of the gravity of that day," Scott said.
He spoke of the Survivor Tree at Ground Zero and how the beautiful new branches growing from gnarled stumps. Scott said it's the perfect analogy for the resilience of New York and the country.
Mark Shore grew up in Evanston and was on the 67th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center, working at Morgan Stanley when the first plane hit the North Tower. He said retelling his story at ceremonies, like this, is part of his life now.
"Because in New York, every year there were a ton of ceremonies. You could find them everywhere. There was several of them within just a few blocks of my apartment. Coming back to Chicago, it was hard to find any and initially I didn't. And there was almost like this empty feeling that I had and it took me a couple of years, and then I found the Evanston one," Shore said.
Despite instructions to the contrary, he left the building by walking down the stairs and made it out before the towers fell.
Shore grew up in Evanston and moved back to Chicago in 2009 from New York.
He teaches finance at DePaul and said sharing his story of getting out with his students is important since most were too young to remember.
