Chicago on 9/11 shared none of the horrors suffered by the people of New York or Washington that day. No planes crashed into buildings here; no buildings collapsed. There was no major loss of life. But Chicago most definitely shared with those people the shock, grief, vulnerability — and ultimately unity — that became the dominant emotions of that fateful day.
In the early hours of 9/11, most Chicagoans were in the midst of their morning routine. Shops were opening, deliveries were being made, commuters were beginning their journeys and parents were readying their children for school. A normal day, until 7:46 a.m. local time, when American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center’s North Tower.
More Top Picks Best Amazon Prime Day Yeti Cooler Deals 2026
Reports of that crash drew some Chicagoans’ attention as they watched morning TV or listened to news radio. A disturbing event to be sure, but time to move on with the day. But at 8:03 a.m. local time, all that began to change with news that United Flight 175 crashed into the World Trade Center’s South Tower. At 8:37 a.m., American Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon.
This news spread among neighbors and co-workers, with rising levels of anxiety. Panic began to set in among the thousands of Chicago-area households with family and friends living and working in New York and D.C.
The Chicago impact then shifted to O’Hare International Airport, where at 8:42 a.m., airport officials faced the Federal Aviation Administration’s national ground stop order. Confusion reigned, as planes on the ground couldn’t take off, and those in the air were told to land at the nearest possible airport. At the same time, a throng of flyers ready for departure was filling the passenger terminals — with no place to go.
At 9:03 a.m. local time, United Flight 93 crashed into a Shanksville, Pennsylvania, field. Todd Beamer, a Wheaton College and DePaul University graduate, had helped lead the heroic charge into the plane’s cabin.
Parents rushed to pick up children from school.
Then at 9:28 a.m. local time, the North Tower collapsed. Loop office buildings, museums, schools and many banks began closing. But after evacuating nonessential employees, the Chicago Fed remained open, to help support what was rapidly becoming a volatile global financial system.
By 10 a.m., the Loop was becoming a ghost town. Commuters were in limbo, massing at bus stops and train stations. Schedules went out the window as CTA and Metra regulars jumped on board the first train remotely headed toward home. Rental cars disappeared. Cabs were all filled. The Kennedy Expressway’s reversible lanes were opened northbound in the morning to accommodate drivers returning to the north and northwest. For a city known as “the crossroads of the nation,” no one could get in, out or around town with any sense of normalcy.
Around noon, the MLB canceled all games scheduled for that day. The Cubs were to have played the Reds at Wrigley Field while the White Sox had just arrived in, of all places, New York to play the Yankees.
At 7:30 p.m., President George W. Bush addressed the nation. He visited the World Trade Center site on Sept. 14, where he delivered a bullhorn-amplified speech to the rescue workers. And by that time, several unique Chicago 9/11 story lines were in motion.
First, Chicago’s reputation as rail capital of the country reemerged. With air traffic completely shut down, Union Station became a beehive of activity. Amtrak emptied its Chicago passenger yards and cleared its schedules to run multiple, lengthy trains to and from New York City and Washington.
Second, rumors began that Sears Tower had been targeted by terrorists. Initial reporting was that the tower was on the terrorists’ initial, but not final, list of targets. But Bush later commented that the tower “was a target, a genuine target.” And those rumors — still unconfirmed — remain an urban legend.
Third, Chicago’s importance as a transportation hub was underscored when, on Sept. 23, the president flew to O’Hare to give his “Get on Board” speech. Speaking to an audience of airport and airline workers and executives, he endorsed the safety of flight travel and encouraged travelers to return to the air.
All of that seems like a fog when viewed 24 years later. But it is vital for the nation, as well as for the city, for that fog to be lifted — permanently. For as President Ronald Reagan observed 12 years earlier, “If we forget what we did, we won’t know who we are.”
And what Chicago “did” was respond to the day with the spirit, unity and resolve one would expect from a city that had once burned to the ground, only to rise again.
Michael W. Peregrine is a Chicago lawyer who watched the day evolve from his Quaker Tower office.
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email [email protected].
More Top Picks Best Book Holders For Hands Free Reading