GEORGETOWN — Under a clear September sky on Friday morning, much like the one many remember from 25 years ago, the community of Georgetown gathered together to commemorate 9/11.
Lt. Logan Dawson, one of the organizers of the event with the Georgetown Fire Protection District, led the ceremony with other first responders remembering the attacks and how the country came together.
There were students from Georgetown-Ridge Farm schools as well as many community members. The GRHS Chorus sang a few patriotic tunes.
Dawson posed the question, “Where were you?” on that Tuesday and had each person on the stage at the Georgetown Fairgrounds respond. Some were in school, some working, others not born or merely toddlers.
Dawson touched on how many in the audience — students from Georgetown-Ridge Farm were like him and were not old enough to witness the attacks.
“For my generation, 9/11 is not a moment that we saw, but something that we just learn about,” he said. “It’s influenced the way that we travel, the way that we think about safety, the way that we understand service, sacrifice, and resilience.”
Dawson added, “My generation didn’t witness 9/11, but we are responsible for its memory from here on… One day, it will be up to us to tell these stories to those that came after us, so that they understand not just what happened, but why it matters.”
Remembrance, he says, “isn’t just about looking back; it’s about deciding what we do with what we’ve been given.”
“We honor the heroes by living in a way that reflects their courage, by stepping up when it matters, by taking care of each other, and by choosing unity over division,” he said. “Some moments in history demand more than memory; they demand responsibility, and we accept that responsibility today, every day, and moving forward.”
Three state lawmakers each gave a short speech.
State Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) recalled an email he was sent from a college friend as the towers burned.
“An email came across from a friend of mine… ‘Has anybody seen Adam?… Adam works in the World Trade Center,’” Rose said. “Adam was missing, and Aaron [his friend who emailed] was frantically trying to find anyone who he might have contacted to learn if he was alive.”
While Rose’s friend survived, a University of Illinois graduate did not.
“In the weeks and the months later, [Adam] had to go bring his buddy’s dental records from Peoria back to New York so they could help identify his friend’s body. Think about that,” Rose said. “That’s the level of intensity that was going on across the United States of America.”
Rose also recalled how the time came with a rare moment of national unity — even within members of Congress, as members broke out spontaneously singing the chorus of ‘God Bless America.’
“The unity that united us as a nation in those days, weeks, months, years afterwards — never seen anything like it,” he said. “Whatever your politics — immaterial, doesn’t matter. What we felt as Americans in those days and weeks afterwards, that was America.”
State Rep. Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) recalled a World War II veteran telling him this was his ‘Pearl Harbor.’
“You will never forget where you were,” he recalled the veteran saying. “You will never forget what you were doing. You’ll never forget what happened. That memory is going to be seared into you for the remainder of your life.”
State Rep. Brandun Schweizer (R-Danville) served with the Marines for 21 years. He said while the attacks exposed “the very worst of humanity,” they also revealed “the very best of America.”
“Maybe on Sept. 11th, it shouldn’t only be about remembering the American lives that were lost,” he said. “Maybe it should be about remembering how Americans lived on Sept. 12th — with courage, with compassion, with patriotism, and with faith, and with the determination that whatever comes next, we can face it together.”
Lt. Matt Cordes, a Georgetown Fire lieutenant and U.S. Army veteran of the 133rd Cavalry, 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, noted that thousands of men and women volunteered for military service after 9/11 and spent years deployed.
“Some of us would spend the next 20 years fighting wars born from that September morning,” Cordes said. “We left our families. We missed birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, weddings, and the births of children.”
He reiterated what many said — what should be remembered is not just the attacks but “everything that followed,” including those who never came home, and those who returned from deployments with visible and invisible wounds.
Westville Fire Chief Mark Ames talked about the bravery of the 343 New York City firefighters who perished and those who later died from cancer caused by their recovery work at Ground Zero.
“It is not without fear that first responders operate — it is the courage to go even though they are afraid,” Ames said. “The unique thing about the fire service is it’s apolitical. There is no politics. There’s no skin color. When the tone sounds, we respond.”
Captain Darrel Starwalt led a bell-ringing ceremony, explaining the bell’s 200-year tradition.
He said the bell rings to signal the start of shifts; if there is a working fire; and it also honors those who die in the line of duty.
“Today, the bell is used to honor a fallen brother or sister who has lost their lives in the line of duty. The ringing of the bell, with three sets of three rings, honors the firefighter who has gone home for the last time,” he said. “Now let’s honor those firefighters who willingly gave their lives on Sept. 11, 2001. We honor them and thank them for the great sacrifice that they gave on that fateful day.”
Chief Rusty Berry of the Georgetown Fire Department led the closing remarks.
“I remember watching it on TV. I remember a bunch of the Quincy Fire Department — we volunteered, we wanted to go to New York City.” Berry recalled. “We weren’t at Ground Zero, but to watch the people, as they said, run to the danger… they knew that that other tower was going to fall, but they went in to save as many people as they could.”
Shawn Starwalt, a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, challenged the crowd to remember the moments the speakers were describing.
”Left, right, Democrat, Republican, you and me, and I and myself. Remember those words, because believe it or not, 25 years ago, a group of cowardly individuals managed to temporarily erase the very meaning of those words from the American language,” Starwalt said. “So now I ask you, especially you younger group in the crowd, will you remember or will you forget? Will you just pass today’s words off as just another old guy up here telling stories, or will you remember the trail that has been blazed for you?”
The theme of ‘never forget’ rang throughout the commemoration, urging those in attendance to carry forward in unity, courage, and love of the country — like the days that followed a dark day in 2001.