Aurora honors local firefighters who joined 9/11 response

CHICAGO (CBS)-- Monday marks 22 years since the September 11th terrorist attacks.

There are events and ceremonies in the Chicago area and across the country to remember and pay tribute to the lives lost.

The tolling of bells at ground zero marked the moment the first twin tower was struck. A 9/11 commemoration ceremony was held at what's now the National September 11th Memorial and Museum in New York City.

The Chicago area is paying tribute to the victims.

At 7:46 a.m., there was a moment of silence led by Aurora Fire Chief Dave McCabe Bagpipes, and a full service of military honors set the tone. The chief, like many, said he remembers where he was on 9/11, and how first responders in the Chicago area were preparing.

"There were a lot of 'what ifs' that day," McCabe said. 

He and Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin honored six of the Aurora firefighters who drove 16 hours straight to New York City to be a part of that responding team of Illinois firefighters in New York. For four days, they worked at Ground Zero.

Three of those first responders attended the ceremony and were honored Monday. 

McCabe said those six first responders were forever changed by what they saw.

"They just talk about the sheer chaos, the eeriness, the mayhem. It was just, everything was just destroyed," he said.

One of those six firefighters died from a brain tumor this pat summer. The department is now working to get his family financial help from the 9/11 victim compensation fund for first responders and civilians who were in the exposure zone in the days after the attacks.