The Illinois Heroes of 9-11-01

This weekend, we've honored the heroes of 9-11 — some of whom died that day, and some of whom are still alive.

All, of course, will live on in our memories.

First responders and emergency personnel from across the country traveled to New York City and Washington, DC in the wake of the attacks to help with the recovery efforts.  Many of those men and women came from Illinois.

One of those Illinois heroes was John Callahan, the Coroner here in my home of Grundy County, IL.  John was a member of the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team who headed out to New York City to aid in the cleanup at the World Trade Center site.

Please read this recent Morris Daily Herald story that details the grim job that faced John when he arrived in New York City, and why his work was so very important.

A Prairie State Treasure: Jim Cornelison

On this blog, we like to post about Illinois treasurers.  Well, Illinois certainly has one in Jim Cornelison, known for signing the Star Bangled Banner before Chicago Blackhawks games.

Today, we the national remembered the ten-year anniversary of the September 11, 2011 terrorist attacks, Jim sang the National Anthem before the Chicago Bears-Atlanta Falcons game.  Just amazing.

(H/T to Marathon Pundit for pointing us to this video).