Updated Post, Aug. 14, 2021 / This 2020 story has been receiving attention on this website. For 2021, the September 11 Observance is being planned as an early morning event, scheduled for 8:46AM at the Cmdr. Dan Shanower Sept. 11 Memorial along the Riverwalk. Music performed by the Naperville Municipal Band will begin at 8:15AM. This post will be updated as soon as all plans are formalized.
Original Post, Sept. 8, 2020 / The community is invited to the annual September 11 Observance at the Cmdr. Dan Shanower Sept. 11 Memorial beginning at 6PM Fri., Sept. 11.
The remembrance with patriotic music performed by the Naperville Municipal Band as well as the Young Naperville Singers is set to honor nearly 3,000 individuals killed in the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon and aboard Flights 11, 77, 175 and 93.
Organized by the Exchange Club of Naperville Americanism Committee, the observance will be held at Naperville’s Sept. 11 Memorial, a tribute to Navy Commander Dan Shanower, a Naperville native who was killed while serving at the Pentagon on the fateful day in 2001.
“I just thought of inviting as many people that I know,” said Exchange Club member Marty Walker, a retired firefighter, who has been coordinating the remembrance for a decade. “Of the nearly 3,000 killed, 343 were firefighters and 60 were police officers.
Walker considers it a high honor to help bring the community together.
“Nineteen years ago we as a nation took a vow to never forget,” Walker said. “Especially now, during these troubling and turbulent times with so much uncertainty, we as a community intend to keep that promise.”
Walker noted that this year’s remembrance will be shorter than other years, mindful of social distancing, face coverings and other public safety protocols to follow.
“Everybody knows why we’re here, so we’ll not have a keynote speaker this year,” Walker explained.
Music will begin at 5:45PM, performed by the Naperville Municipal Band in the Riverwalk Amphitheather across the DuPage River from the September 11 Memorial.
The tribute will begin with the Veterans combined Honor Guard, a prayer by Chaplin Mike Crowell of the Naperville Fire Department, followed by remarks Naperville Fire Chief Mark Puknaitis and Police Chief Bob Marshall. Walker said the Shanower family will be represented by Stephanie Shanower, Dan Shanower’s niece.
“Pausing to reflect is just another way to bring the community together in the name of public service and first responders – and to respect and remember that freedom isn’t free.”
