Portraits of more than 300 service members from Illinois who’ve been killed since 9/11 were put on display at the Will County Courthouse in Joliet.

Former Democratic Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn appeared at the courthouse to speak about the Portrait of a Soldier exhibit on Thursday, which marked the 24th anniversary of 9/11, a terrorist attack in New York City that claimed about 3,000 lives.

The exhibit will be on display at the first-floor lobby of the Will County Courthouse, 100 W. Jefferson St., Joliet, through Sept. 19.

[ Photos: Former Gov. Pat Quinn honors service members at Will County exhibit ]

The exhibit consists of replicas of graphite portraits drawn by artists Cameron Schilling, of Mattoon, and Donald Jeremiah, of Streamwood, according to a statement from William Morgan on behalf of Quinn.

During Thursday’s event, Quinn spoke briefly about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, 31, who was shot on Wednesday at a university in Utah. He said Kirk, who hailed from the northwest suburbs of Illinois, “believed strongly in democracy and speaking out.”

“We ask God to bless his immortal as we ask God to bless the immortal souls of our Portrait of Soldier service members,” Quinn said.

Some of the service members depicted in the exhibit include Army Corporal Phillip Brodnick, 25, of New Lenox; Army Private First Class Andrew Meari, 21, of Plainfield; and Army Private First Class Aaron Toppen, 19, of Mokena.

Brodnick served in Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq, while Meari and Toppen served in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, according to the website Honor The Fallen.

Quinn said the young men and women – many of them in their late teens or early 20s – never expected they would go to Afghanistan or Iraq in the wake of 9/11.

“But they raised their hand and they answered the call of duty and said, ‘Here I am,’ ” Quinn said.

Schilling drew the first portrait, which was of U.S. Army Specialist Charles Neely, while he was a student at Eastern Illinois University, according to Morgan. Neely was a fellow Mattoon resident who died in Iraq.

Quinn established Portrait of a Soldier in 2004 while he was lieutenant governor after seeing Schilling’s work, and has since taken the exhibit around the state, according to Morgan.

Quinn encouraged the audience to study the portraits and remember the names of the service members.

“We need to honor them and their families,” Quinn said.