Sunday, September 11, 2011
Craig Miller is among the Americans featured in '9/11: The Decade After,' a special report by Patch and Huffington Post.
After U.S. Marine veteran Craig Miller lost nine of his men in the Middle East in 1987, he thought he was done with death in the military. But in 2009, the Oak Forest man and chairman of the Oak Forest Veterans Commission picked up the phone to tell his mother that her 22-year-old nephew, Miller’s cousin Army Staff Sgt. Josh Rath, who was from Tinley Park, had been killed in action. Rath’s unit was hit by an Iraqi suicide bomber. The first day of Rath’s wake would have been his 23rd birthday. It was the events of 9/11 that sealed Rath's intent to join the Army. Now Rath’s name is carved on a Middle East war memorial in Illinois. Patch first heard Miller and Rath's story in May, after the death of Osama bin Laden. If anyone was going to …
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Village officials confirmed Tuesday that Tinley will soon have its own piece of history — a beam from the World Trade Center.
Tinley Park residents and officials will soon pay their respects to Sept. 11 first responders, military personnel and citizens like never before. The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey has approved Tinley to receive a 1,008-pound, 6 1/2 foot long beam from the World Trade Center. Officials said they expect to have the historical piece of twisted steel in time for their Patriot Day Remembrance — a dedication in honor of the upcoming 10-year anniversary of 9-11. "We initially meant for this to be a surprise," Tinley Park Fire Chief Ken Dunn said Tuesday. "This is going to be for the cops, the police, the (Emergency Management Agency), public works and the dispatchers." Though the beam should arrive in time for local 9-11 memorial …
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Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Friends gathered Monday night for brews, stories and reflection on their losses in the aftermath of Sept. 11.
The table’s empty. I mean, it’s full of people, absolutely jam-packed with extra chairs pulled ‘round, husbands, wives, backslapping buddies, old pals, new ones who act old. Guys have to clutch and cluster all the Miller and Bud bottles that make up a round into an awkward bouquet. (“Man flowers,” one woman calls it.) It’s a crowd, a heap of people at this overloaded, filled-to-the-brim table. But it’s empty, an emptiness you can feel. More accurately than “empty,” the table by the door at the Midlothian VFW Post 2580 is filled with people who aren’t there. For Midlothian Deputy Fire Chief Dave Mager, it’s 343 New York firefighters and paramedics, 23 NYPD officers and 37 Port Authority officers who aren’t at the table. For Oak Forest …
Oak Forest Veterans Commission Chairman Craig Miller lost a cousin when Josh Rath was killed in action Jan. 8, 2009, in Afghanistan. Miller and Rath's mother, Darlene, talked to Patch about their feelings on the death of Osama bin Laden.
If anyone was going to hunt down Osama bin Laden, Darlene Rath was willing to bet on her son, Josh. The Tinley-born soldier had a knack for spotting the lizard camouflaged against the tree—he was just that kind of guy. He had a sharp eye and was quick to point it out. Josh's nature led him to enlist with a childhood friend, and his mother Darlene was unnerved to hear they'd chosen the infantry. But it had all been part of their plan. "They decided, if they were going to be in, they were going to be where the action was," Rath said. "He found the action, for sure.' ... I thought, 'These two are gonna go get him.'" During his second tour of duty with the U.S. Army in January 2009, a suicide bomber rocked the vicinity of Staff Sgt. Josh Rath …
Monday, May 2, 2011
Osama bin Laden's murderous actions heightened fear and suspicion of all Muslims. A Bridgeview Mosque leader hopes for better days ahead.
Days after 9-11, a patriotism rally in Oak Lawn turned ugly and an anti-Arab mob marched through the streets toward the Bridgeview mosque. Almost a full 10 years later, as the president announced that the mastermind behind the 9-11 attacks had been shot to death by U.S. Navy Seals, a celebratory crowd gathered outside the White House. As word spread, fireworks could be heard at homes around the south suburbs. Meanwhile, the folks at the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview found reason to be relieved, even reason to hope. "After 10 years of sadness, fear and uncertainty, we have been under extreme pressure," said Oussama Jammal, vice president of the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview, explaining the feelings that have pervaded the American Muslim…
We asked our Facebook fans to share their stories of Sept. 11 in the wake of the death of its mastermind.
Julie Shaunnessey was in a car. I remember I had just taken the kids to school and had stopped at the Clark gas station on Oak Park. Sat and listened to the radio as they announced what was happening. I will never forget that day. Michelle Esposito-Koler was teaching a class. I did not even know until one of my students walked into my classroom and told me an airplane flew into the twin towers in New York. I turned on my Internet and the devastation was everywhere. My students - all 25 of them - crowded behind my desk and we watched the horror that was happening. And I was in a basement apartment in Missouri, watching one of the darkest days of America's history on a static-filled television, hoping I hadn't just seen what I knew I had. In…
Kim Wedow
5:30 pm on Tuesday, September 13, 2011
I think it should be displayed in the centre of town so that residents and visitors alike can see it on a daily basis. We are very lucky to have it. NEVER FORGET - 2,977 of 9.11.01. more ›