Chicago Firefighters Commemorate 9/11 Attacks
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A number of remembrances of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were held Tuesday morning in the Chicago area.
WBBM Newsradio's Bernie Tafoya reports at one remembrance, at Chicago Fire Department Engine Co. 18 at 1360 S. Blue Island Ave., firefighters and top Fire Department command officers saluted the American flag for one minute at 7:46 a.m.
Afterward, Deputy Fire Commissioner John McNicholas looked back on his mission, along with a few dozen other Chicago firefighters, to help New York City three days after the attacks.
"The thing that always sticks in my mind is the family members coming up to us and saying, 'Have you seen my relative,'" McNicholas said, "and you know, that one still kind of sticks in your heart."
McNicholas says the thing that struck him when he got to New York is, how could anyone have done this to our country?
"Everybody talked about Pearl Harbor. Well, you know, 9/11 is a firefighter's Pearl Harbor," he said.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Bernie Tafoya reports
