Twenty-five years ago today, our nation was changed forever.
While, to our knowledge, no Crete residents were among those lost that day, the events of September 11 still touched people in our community.
Flossmoor native Lt. Cmdr. Patrick Jude Murphy, USNR, was killed at the Pentagon on September 11, and is remembered by loved ones who include relatives here in Crete.
Hundreds of Illinois first responders traveled to New York to assist in search, rescue, and recovery efforts, including retired Naperville firefighter Chuck Wehrli, who was deployed to New York with a search-and-rescue team and spent 10 days working at Ground Zero in the aftermath of the attacks.
And our own Crete Village President Mark Wiater was working as an American Airlines pilot at the time. He never made it into the air that day. Years later, Mark found himself flying alongside the son of Thomas McGuinness Jr., the first officer of American Airlines Flight 11, who was killed when the aircraft was flown into the World Trade Center.
We pause to remember all who were lost and honor those who responded with courage. We will never forget.
(Image via Crete PD Chief Pieritz on Facebook)
