AURORA, Ill. (CBS) — The City of Aurora paid tribute to those who died on 9/11 with a ceremony outside a fire station Friday.

As WBBM Newsradio’s Mike Krauser reports, the ceremony also recognized those inspired to fight back that day.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Mike Krauser reports

A 21-gun salute and “Taps” played from a rooftop across from the Aurora Central Fire Station.

In the crowd, Nancy Ramos sat with a folded American flag in her lap, with tears streaming down her face.

On Sept. 11, 2001, her son, Hector, came home from school with some news.

“And he goes, ‘But I have to tell you something mom. I got a hold of a recruiter, and he’s going to come to the house tonight,’” she said.

Hector Ramos enlisted in the U.S. Marines on Sept. 11.

“He was really upset. He was upset, but with courage – he says, ‘I want everybody – you and my family and everybody here – to be safe,’” Nancy Ramos said. “I was proud.”

Hector Ramos was killed in Iraq on Jan. 26, 2005.

Also at the ceremony, Darien resident Tom Jones spoke to those who gathered. He was in the South Tower at the World trade Center when the planes hit, and while he was lucky to make it out alive, there is one reality that he and everyone needs to keep in mind.

“When you get up every morning and leave your home, you really don’t know what this world has in store for you,” he said.

Jones said on that day, he hadn’t been to New York in 17 years. He was there for a meeting for a job he had just gotten.

The Aurora ceremony also honored emergency responders, and four Marines who were killed in Iraq – including Hector Ramos.