‘Tireless resilience’
Gary first responders, officials recall 2001 terrorist attacks
That Saturday morning was sunny and clear with not a cloud in the sky wasn’t lost on the Gary officials outside of City Hall.
There to remember the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in which 19 members of extremist group al Qaeda hijacked four commercial airliners and succeeded in carrying out three of four suicide attacks against American institutions, the lovely day served as a visceral reminder of the terror the country felt at that moment and how, at least briefly, united the country became that day.
Gary Deputy Mayor Trent McCain said he was on his way to O’Hare International Airport to pick up a visitor to his law school from Cape Town, South Africa, when the attacks started.
“I haven’t picked up someone from that terminal since,” McCain said. “She had an opportunity to see our country at its darkest hour, but she also got to see the compassion and patriotism too.”
More than 3,200 people were killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., and in a plane crash in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Gary Police Chief Brian Evans said he’s seen “tremendous change” in the 20 years since the attacks occurred. It brought together the country, but now is a new time.
“We must always remember how that tragedy showed the tireless resilience of Americans,” he said. “Twenty
years is a significant time and we’re now entering a new phase.
“The (Afghan) war is ended, but the pain and anguish everyone still feels is very, very relevant.”
Gary Fire Chief Sean O’Donnell echoed Evans’s sentiments, saying that not only did the country change, but safety training has changed considerably.
For that,he appreciates Gary’s first responders and the city’s support of them.