Oak Lawn Holds Remembrance Ceremony of 9/11 Attacks

OAK LAWN, IL — It’s hard to believe that it has been 18 years since America came under attack by terrorists. Community members and people who work in Oak Lawn are invited to take a few moments out for reflection at a ceremony observing the anniversary of 9/11, which this year falls on Wednesday, Sept. 11.

The ceremony will begin at 9:11 a.m. at the First Responders Memorial at the Oak Lawn-Patriot Metra Station, 9525 Tulley Ave. (behind Starbucks and the Children’s Museum). Former Oak Lawn Police Chief Bill Villanova will serve as the keynote speaker, followed by the Oak Lawn Community High School choir. Members of Johnson-Phelps VFW Post 5220 will present the colors. All are welcome and teachers are encouraged to bring their classes.

Oak Lawn’s 9/11 memorial incorporates four beams from the fallen World Trade Center towers and two spires with American faces of first responders who rushed into the burning towers to save lives and the workmen who built the towers, as well faces faces of Oak Lawn residents who posed for the monument's creator, the internationally renowned sculptor Erik Blome.