The city of Naperville, in partnership with Naperville Responds for Veterans, is holding its annual 9/11 memorial event on Wednesday, Sept. 11.
The ceremony will take place at the Cmdr. Dan Shanower Memorial behind the Naperville Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle St., with music from the Naperville Municipal Band starting at 5:45 p.m.
9/11 memorial event in downtown Naperville
This year’s ceremony will mark both the 23rd anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the nation and the 21st anniversary of the Shanower Memorial.
The event’s featured speaker is Elizabeth McConkie, a high school senior representing Sycamore IL Post 5768 VFW and Auxiliary and VFW 19th District Illinois. She was chosen to speak after impressing judges with her essay in the Voice of Democracy contest, according to a news release from the city.
Also speaking will be Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli, Police Chief Jason Arres, and Fire Chief Mark Puknaitis.
In the event of rain, the remembrance ceremony will move inside to the Naperville Municipal Center’s council chambers.
NCTV17 will be live-streaming the ceremony on both our website and our channel.
Shanower Memorial honors those fallen on 9/11
The Shanower Memorial was created in remembrance of Cmdr. Dan Shanower. The Naperville native, a Navy officer, was in the Pentagon on Sept. 11 and died during the attacks.
The memorial stands in tribute to him and the nearly 3,000 others who lost their lives that day. It is located along the Naperville Riverwalk, between the Naperville Municipal Center and the DuPage River.
The memorial was formed using rubble from the Pentagon, part of a steel beam from the World Trade Center, and some granite from the Shanksville, Pennsylvania, area where United Flight 93 crashed after passengers tried to regain control of the plane. Adjacent to the sculpture is a retaining wall featuring more than 140 faces, symbolizing the many lives lost on 9/11.
It was dedicated on Sept. 11, 2003, making Naperville one of the first cities in the country to have a memorial to those who had died in the 9/11 attacks.
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