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Where were you on 9/11? Quad Cities remembers

September 11, 2025

Yahoo! News

By: Riley Hemmer

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (Yahoo! News) – The Rock Island Arsenal held memorial services on Thursday to honor veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice. The 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony started at 8:46 a.m. The time memorializes the first crash into the North Tower 24 years ago.

“I can still remember going over, driving from New Jersey into New York City, and seeing the smoldering smoke of where the Twin Towers used to be,” says Major General Mark McCormack. He spoke in front of military, army civilians, and community members at Thursday’s event.

“I think there’s still pride in the nation. No matter how you describe it, how you articulate it, there’s still a lot of national pride here in America,” said McCormack. “I think that’s one of the things that we’ve always had. It may be a little harder to find at times, you may have to dig a little deeper – but it’s always there.”

McCormack recalls where he was on Sept. 11, 2001.

“There were all kinds of emotions…There was fear, there was uncertainty, there was rage…There was a need for vengeance at that point.”

Later in the day, a handful of volunteers cleaned headstones at the Rock Island National Cemetery. It’s a part of Carry the Load’s nation-wide event. The nonprofit hosts volunteer events each Memorial Day, Patriot Day and Veterans’ Day to memorialize the veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Dan Baltisberger is an administrative officer at the Rock Island Arsenal, and he also is a veteran. He volunteered on Thursday to clean headstones alongside a handful of other people.

“Everybody in here sacrificed in some way,” says Baltisberger. “This is an honored, hallowed ground, so everybody paved the way for the next man up, the next woman up.”

Baltisberger reflects on what he was doing 24 years ago.

One volunteer traveled three hours to attend the headstone cleaning. Patricia Revollo, who became a U.S. citizen in 1988, says a part of her oath was to thank those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

“I made a vow to thank those who protected the country I made mine. I think 9/11 is about remembrance. So, it’s about giving back to those who have given so much,” says Revollo.

She was at work during the terrorist attacks in 2001.

Many volunteers reflected upon the country’s unity after the terrorist attacks in 2001.

“After 9/11, everyone came together. It was about our pride for our country,” said Revollo.

“It didn’t matter who you liked, who you didn’t like. If you look at pictures after 9/11 of neighborhoods, flags flew, everybody came together as Americans – and understood the importance of being an American, and all the blessings we have,” said Baltisberger.

The World Trade Center was a 16-acre complex in lower Manhattan. Its centerpiece was the Twin Towers. On Sept. 11, 2001, a terrorist attack destroyed the whole complex, killed 2,976 people and injured thousands more.

Watch the story here.

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