World Trade Center Beam Marks 20th Anniversary Of 9/11 At COD

GLEN ELLYN, IL — A 1,000-pound steel beam that once helped anchor the World Trade Center will be the centerpiece for a livestreamed event hosted at College of DuPage (COD) commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 tragedy.

The memorial event on Sept. 11 will feature remarks from local officials and first responders, including Mike Fagel, who spent months working to recover victims from the rubble after the 2001 attacks. On Sept. 10 at 10 a.m., Fagel will share his personal photos and stories from Ground Zero during Remembering 9/11: Personal Reflections from Ground Zero. This event will also be broadcast live via COD's Facebook page.

Other featured speakers at the Sept. 11 ceremony include:

• COD President Dr. Brian Caputo
• Homeland Security Training Institute Director Tom Brady
• DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick
• Glen Ellyn Volunteer Fire Company Assistant Jim Sisson

Those in attendance will lay flowers on the steel beam to pay respect to individuals who lost their lives as a result of the Sept. 11 attacks.

“The beam is a symbol of our resilience and our capacity to endure our darkest moments and overcome them,” he said. “We have an obligation as a community to remember and respect with gratitude those who died as well as the difficult but important history of 9/11," Dr. Caputo said in a news release.

The memorial 9/11 event will begin at 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2021. Click the link to view the livestream when it airs on COD's Facebook page.

Residents can click the link to share their own 9/11 stories with College of DuPage.

What: 9/11 20 Years Later: Our Community Remembers

When: Sept. 11 at 7:30 a.m.

Where: College of DuPage; click the link to view the livestream when on COD's Facebook page