Sept. 11 goes down in history as the day where the world stopped turning. People from all over the United States share stories from that day regardless of how they were connected. Some people were firefighters or first responders, others were family members, some were in New York, and many remember hearing the news on the radio or watching it on TV. No matter the connection, 9/11 brought people together in more ways than one.
After the attack on the Twin Towers, firefighters from all over the country were called to respond and help the New York Fire Department in what they originally thought was a rescue mission. One of these firefighters was, and still is local to Naperville. Former Captain Chuck Wehrli was originally on his way to Arlington Heights to teach a class when he heard news of the attacks. Immediately rerouting, Wehrli drove to Missouri and joined the Missouri Task Force 1, which was a federal search and rescue team. Upon arriving in Missouri, Wehrli and his team were flown out to New York in military transport planes. Once in New York, Wehrli and his team were sent straight to ground zero to start the recovery process. At this point, the attacks were over and the area around the World Trade Center was fully demolished.
“It was all pieces of steel all over the place, it’s like a big construction site,” Wehrli said. “You have never seen something like that before, ever, and I hope to never see it again.”…