Carpentersville 9/11 Events Draw Hundreds

Nearly 3,000 American flags at Carpenter Park on Sunday represented the lives in the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001. Volunteers created the display, which included a memorial tag on each flag, listing the name, age and circumstance of each victim’s passing. It was one element of the village of Carpentersville’s 9/11 remembrance events, with a parade, LifeSource Blood Drive, outdoor worship service and leaders’ remarks rounding out the day.

At Sunday morning’s welcome presentation attended by more than 200 people, state Rep. Keith Farnham spoke of the benefits of moving forward with positive ideas, instead of with anger about terrorism. He said a program screened the night before inspired him.

“It was about the voices of people who lost their lives in 9/11,” he said. “It went back and forth from the parents, wives, and others and it really touched on the sadness … when we all felt a loss, like something had been taken away.”

The program then interviewed those people several years later, Farnham said, and their attitudes were focused not on resentment and grief, but on the future.

“They had hope. These tragedies happen to us, but we get up and go on,” Farnham said. “We honor those people by living our lives, by reaching out and helping other people.”

Challenges like the major devastation of 9/11 actually strengthen people who come together to get through it, he said.

Carpentersville Village Trustee Paul Humpfer thanked the dozens of volunteers who coordinated the community’s 9/11 remembrance. He said the tragedy represented different things to all who witnessed it, and that the terrorists did not win.

“That we as Americans would crumble, our economy would crumble … that was their goal,” he said. “It is important that we know their goal and that we did not allow them to realize that.”

Because of America’s community spirit, the country’s unity pulled it through, he said.

“Every person who volunteered to help showed how we as Americans support community and make it strong,” he said. “Through (gestures like that) we show others that no one will ever take away our way of life.”

He also said the Chicago area and suburban first responders, as well as those throughout the country, would have acted with the same bravery if faced with a terrorist attack. Military personnel who continue to serve to protect others are also heroes, he said, adding that educating children about the events of 9/11 will help everyone learn from the historic day.

“The flags are reminders of the heroes among us today,” he said. “Let’s talk to our children and let us never forget.”