Tears welled up in the eyes of retired United Airlines flight attendant Amanda Drummond as she stood with her two young daughters reading the names of those who perished in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, at Wauconda’s Heroes of Freedom remembrance ceremony last Sunday.

“On 9/11, I was on a layover in San Diego,” said Drummond, wiping her face.

“It’s important for us all to always remember, to never forget. Our world changed that day.

Before 9/11 I took some parts of being American for granted and I don’t anymore.”

Drummond attended the ceremony with daughters Kathleen, 12 and Caroline, 9. Her husband, Lake County Sheriff’s Sgt. Erwin Drummond, performed with Northern Illinois Pipes and Drums.

“My children weren't even born when 9/11 happened,” she said. “It’s been difficult to explain it to them, but as they get older we talk more about it and about their daddy being a first responder.”

Sunday marked the 15th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the second remembrance ceremony at Wauconda’s Heroes of Freedom memorial, built last year on village-owned land next to the police station on Main Street.

The project was spearheaded by former Gurnee village trustee Kirk Morris, a Gold Star father whose son, Marine PFC Geoffrey Morris, died in Iraq in 2004.

The centerpiece of the memorial, funded and built through private donations and volunteer labor, is a 19-foot long, 18,000-pound steel beam fell from the 91st floor of the North Tower of New York’s World Trade Center. Morris’s Heroes of Freedom Foundation acquired the donated beam from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The beam is set in a pentagonal base adorned with the seals of the five military branches.

The base is circled by four benches, representing the four hijacked airplanes.

Planter beds, fittingly measuring 9 feet by 11 feet, are positioned along a walkway constructed of engraved bricks. They include soil from the Shanksville, Pennsylvania, crash site. Morris’s 18-year-old son Dylan, designed and installed the landscaping for his Eagle Scout project.

A remembrance wall lists the names of the nearly 3,000 people who died in New York City and at the Pentagon in Washington D.C. on September 11, 2001. A police star and Maltese cross commemorates the fallen first responders.

The mood was somber as Wauconda Mayor Frank Bart, an Army Reservist with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel Battalion Commander, welcomed the crowd at Sunday’s ceremony.

“I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to those who sacrificed so much that day and the lives that were lost and lost in the subsequent wars. So many have sacrificed for us to maintain this great way of life,” he said.

Morris’s son Geoffrey was one of 17 Warren Township High School students to join the military following the attacks.

“Two would come home in flag-draped coffins. Another 10 earned Purple Hearts and literally left pieces of themselves in Iraq and Afghanistan. Always remember how blessed you are to see another day,” Morris said.

Reflecting on the unified spirit of Americans on September 11, 2001, Morris spoke of how attitudes have changed since that fateful day.

"I had posted this (on Facebook) about a week ago and it created a lot of stir. I said, 'Does anybody remember the day when color, race, religion and political affiliation didn't matter?
The day when police and firefighters were the biggest heroes on the planet? The day when we were all just Americans?'"

Marine Col. Jill Morgenthaler, an Iraq war veteran, admonished those who believed America brought the attacks on itself, because of the way our citizens live.

“There is no grievance that justifies such violence. Some said God was punishing us. This was not an act of God, this was a Godless act. We can only defeat the enemy by standing together,” she said.

The village is still accepting orders for personalized brick pavers for the memorial’s walkway. Visit heroesoffreedommemorial.org for more information.