9/11 remembered in Summit

“It was like God went silent” – woman recalls

By Steve Metsch

Wendy Esposito will never forget the “eerie quiet” of that September evening 18 years ago.

Esposito was sitting on the front stoop of her home on 55^thPlace in Summit, perhaps 12 hours after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.

“There was not a plane in the sky. Not a bird tweeting. No wind. It was just silent. It was scary,” Esposito, 70, said.

“There wasn’t any traffic. I think everyone just went home, held their families and thanked God they weren’t in the mess that we were in,” she said.

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A brief ceremony recalling those terrorist attacks started at 9:11 a.m. Wednesday beneath sunny skies in front of the Summit firehouse on 59^thStreet.

Deputy Fire Chief Frank Batura said, “It’s up to us to remember with ceremonies like this, to instill in future generations that regardless of how we are attacked we still are the greatest country in the world.”

After placing a floral wreath at the flagpole, he said that while there may be future attempted attacks, “I don’t believe we’re ever going to let our guard down any more.”

Deputy Fire Chief Frank Batura speaks about the attacks. Photo by Steve Metsch.

Micah Windle, pastor of the Summit Bible Church, 7400 W. 55^thPlace, and the fire department chaplain, said a prayer in which he thanked God “for the peace you give in our hearts despite everything that happens in this world, all the tragedy.”

“Help us to remember, Lord. Help us to move forward, creating a better world,” Windle said.

Addressing those who had gathered, Summit Fire Chief Wayne Hanson said it was “nice to know that there are people who still come out and want to remember that day.”

“People are still dying from this incident. First responders. Police and fire. The public who worked at Ground Zero … This was a day that changed our world forever. It’s changed the way we live our lives. Many innocent men, women and children were killed that day,” Hanson noted.

Excluding the 19 hijackers of four planes, 2,977 people were killed that day, says Wikipedia. More than 6,000 were injured.

“They were business people, bankers, lawyers, engineers, people from all walks of life who never had a clue,” Hanson said.

The 9/11 attacks made “terrorism up close and very personal” for Americans, Hanson said. “It was a normal Tuesday morning. I didn’t believe it was really happening.”

Nor did Pastor Windle.

On that fateful day he was 11 years old and doing math homework in a laundry. His family was traveling the country, talking at churches about recently completed missionary work they had done in South America. His parents were missionaries.

“My mom brought us in from the RV, said we had to see something. I thought we were watching a movie. It was the second airplane hitting the tower,” Windle, 28, said.

“It didn’t dawn on me what was going on, except it was really weird everybody was glued to the TV,” he said. “It’s an incredible turn of events in our history.”

Pastor Micah Windle and his daughter Ciara, 6, along with first responders, reflect on those who lost their lives.

Then a Cook County Sheriff’s deputy, Esposito learned of the attacks after roll call. At first, she thought it was someone’s idea of a cruel joke. She soon learned otherwise.

“We were put on standby. They told us they were getting buses in case we had to be deployed. Sears Tower. John Hancock. Thank God. We were fortunate,” she said. “This was terrorism, pure and simple. There was so much tension.”

“Like I said, that night, sitting out front … it was so quiet. It was like God went silent. It was like He cried and then was silent. It was ‘what now?’ I still can’t believe it, and it’s been 18 years.”

Desplaines Valley News

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Steve Metsch

Steve Metsch is an award winning veteran reporter who previously worked for the Daily Southtown Newspapers, Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times. Metsch is a writer and editor at the Southwest News Newspaper group based in suburban Chicago, and a freelance writer for a financial newsletter, a health magazine and the Naperville Sun.
Email Steve Metsch at sm4610@sbcglobal.net