‘A place that people can reflect’: New memorial in west suburban Elmhurst pays homage to 9/11 first responders

ELMHURST, Ill. — In west suburban Elmhurst, a newly-dedicated memorial marks a new beginning, an homage for future generations to reflect on a day that changed the United States and, by extension, the world forever.

The day known simply as 9/11.

The centerpiece of the First Responders Memorial Plaza in Elmhurst, with its rust-colored steel rising to the sky and the white cubed towers alongside, represents the Twin Towers of New York City, their collapse on Sept. 11, 2001, the thousands of lives lost, and the sacred promise that we will never forget.

The new memorial was dedicated Wednesday, on the 23rd anniversary of 9/11.

Chief Dick Dufort, Deputy Chief Steve Reynolds and several other firefighters from the Elmhurst Fire Department, like many firefighters across the country, rushed to Ground Zero in New York to help that day. The acrid smell emanating from the rubble remains etched in the total recall of their time there.

“We went to cover funerals after the fact to help out the New York Fire Department while they were at Ground Zero digging through the rubble,” Dufort said Wednesday. “We were going to the funerals of other fallen firefighters.”

Over the years, the Elmhurst firefighters maintained relationships with the people they met in the days, weeks and months after the 9/11 attacks.

In 2023, they were gifted a 13-foot piece of steel from under the subway beneath the Twin Towers. So they commissioned local artist Jason Peot to conceptualize the piece for display outside Elmhurst Fire Station No. 2, located at 605 South York Street.

Peot says the white cubes on his piece represent the Twin Towers, but also that white represents hope.

“To see this here just brings back those memories, like it was yesterday,” Dufort said.

Wednesday’s dedication was the culmination of a team effort, with money donated from residents of the community, first responders and businesses alike.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Reynolds said. “We worked hard for years.”

Nathan Filip’s company, Premier Outdoor Environments, did the pavers, seat walls and more for the memorial plaza. He paid his guys out of his own pocket for the labor.

“I grew up in Elmhurst, and I wanted to give back to the community,” Filip said Wednesday.

Kent Johnson, assistant city manager for the City of Elmhurst, says everyone remembers where they were on 9/11. He was a 20-year-old college student.

“I was in a class, and I remember hearing about it and stepping out,” Johnson recalled. “I’ll never forget exactly where I was, and I called my mom just to talk to her and then spent the rest of the week probably watching TV, just like everybody else.”

The TV images will forever remain a big part of what transpired that awful day, but so too will the heroic acts of many first responders who made the ultimate sacrifice and those who survived.

The hope is that all of that can be appreciated now in Elmhurst.

“We want them to come and visit, understand the history,” Johnson said. “A lot of the younger kids don’t know anything about it. I hope they think about the sacrifices of the military police, fire, port authority, etc., that took place 20-something years ago.”

Chiefs Dufort and Reynolds, and all those in the fire service, couldn’t agree more.

“It is a reflecting spot,” Reynolds said. “I want it to be not a place that people just reflect on the bad things that happened that day, but how the country came together afterwards.

“That was a horrible time, but it was nice to see how everybody helped each other out.”

Personalized commemorative paver bricks for the Elmhurst First Responders Memorial Plaza are still available.

Click HERE for more information on how to purchase a brick or donate financial support for the memorial.

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