A Pause at DarienFest to Honor Victims of 9/11

The carnival halted for 20 minutes Sunday as city officials and organizations paid tribute to the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11.

The rides stopped, the games paused and the crowd was silent for 20 minutes at DarienFest Sunday afternoon. Amid the revelry, festival-goers took a moment to reflect on the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11 at the main stage in Darien Community Park. Members of Darien VFW Post 2838, the Darien Police Department, veterans support group Salute the Armed Forces and city officials, joined each other to pay tribute to the lives lost 10 years ago. Community relations officer Nick Skweres emphasized the sacrifices of first responders — the police officers and firefighters — who entered the World Trade Center before the towers collapsed. “We ask that you remember not only those in the armed forces,” he said. “We ask that you remember that every day …

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10 Years Later

10 Years, Two Beams, One Survivor's Story: Fire Districts Remember 9/11

Tom Jones, who escaped the south tower minutes before it collapsed in 2001, shared his story during ceremonies Sunday at the Darien-Woodridge and Tri-State Fire Protection Districts.

Tom Jones knew something was wrong when he saw the sheets of white typing paper fluttering through the air. He was too high up — an errant gust of wind couldn’t have delivered that much paper from ground level to the 61st floor windows of the World Trade Center. Then he saw the smoke. And then he decided to leave. Jones, a Darien resident since 1987, was in New York City for a business meeting on Sept. 11, 2001. He was in the south tower of the World Trade Center by chance, having set foot in it for the first time only the day before. The chance visit turned into a miracle of survival as Jones descended the 61 flights of stairs to safely exit the tower just minutes before it collapsed. Jones shared his story Sunday at separate ceremonies …

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10 Years Later

VIDEO: Darien 9/11 Survivor Shares His Story

Tom Jones, who has lived in Darien since 1987, escaped the south tower of the World Trade Center minutes before it collapsed.

Ten years later, Darien resident Tom Jones told a crowd at the Darien-Woodridge Fire District headquarters how he escaped the South Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Jones had started working for Morgan Stanley in July 2001 and traveled to New York City office on Sept. 9, 2001, for a business trip. He took part in meetings on Sept. 10 and was on a coffee break around 8:45 a.m.on Sept. 11 when he noticed black smoke coming from the North Tower. That's when he started his descent from the 61st floor to safety.

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10 Years Later

Touched By Terror: Patch Remembers 9/11 in 911 Snapshots

Patch observes 9/11 with stories and images from towns across the country.

Millions of people across the country were affected by the 9/11 attacks. Some experienced the tragic loss of a loved one, some found an inspiring way to help those who were grieving, and others experienced a political awakening.  To help reflect the endless diversity of their experiences, Patch looked out across our sites to pull together 911 snapshots of everyday Americans whose lives were changed by the events of that day. From across the country, Darien Patch site and hundreds of others captured the faces, keepsakes, memorials, ceremonies, flags, fund-raisers, deployments and the still-raw emotions that followed the attacks. Taken together they create a powerful mosaic that is large in scope but often deeply personal. Click through to …

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10 Years Later

Snapshot: Lace Elementary School Pays Tribute to 9/11

District 61 teaches students respect for those who serve the U.S.

Only the very oldest students at Lace Elementary School this year — the fifth-graders and a handful of fourth-graders — had been born on Sept. 11, 2001. But the students paid tribute Friday to the lives that were lost and the lives that were forever changed that day by each placing an American flag, nearly 600 in all, by the school sign on Cass Avenue. “With kids this age, you want to honor the day, but you want to make it age appropriate,” Lace Principal Marty Casey said. “This way, they get to do something meaningful. It frames it in the correct terms so they can go home and have a conversation with their families.” Teaching respect for those who serve the U.S. — in the military and as firefighters and police officers — has been a …

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Shards of World Trade Center Steel Inspire 9/11 Memorials Across America

In hundreds of communities, chunks of steel from the Twin Towers beget memories of a day to mourn and prayers for a future of peace. Today, Patch shares many of those stories with you.

To the son who followed a family legacy into firefighting, it evokes the father and former Long Island fire chief who fell that day.   To the director of a Georgia park, it explains why he’s been called to war three times in the past decade. To the residents of Gig Harbor, WA, it required no less than an escort of firefighters, paramedics and as many as 100 motorcycles during its nine-day, cross-country passage from New York City to the crash site of United Flight 93 in rural Pennsylvania to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota to its new home in the Pacific Northwest. Shards of a symbol, hunks of steel. Bolt-studded, fire-scarred beams that until 9/11 supported theWorld Trade Center’s Twin Towers in New York now lie scattered across American …

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