When the events of Sept. 11, 2001 come to mind, most people picture the horrors endured by the victims of the hijacked airplanes, inside the Twin Towers and at the Pentagon. They also recall the brave first responders at Ground Zero, the lifelong trauma of both survivors and victims’ families, and the heavy toll paid by soldiers who fought overseas in the resulting war on terror.
However, unseen in public memory is the story of Lt. Colonel Daniel “Nasty” Nash — an F15 fighter pilot who, on the chaotic morning of 9/11, was tasked with scrambling into action from Otis Air National Guard Base off Cape Cod, Mass. with his wingman, blasting into supersonic speed to intercept what was believed to be a hijacked commercial airliner.
Although the attacks on American soil ended that day, their effects on Nash, a La Grange native and 1984 graduate of Lyons Township High School, did not…