“Never forget” has been the mantra in the United States since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, that caused the deaths of nearly 3,000 people, and Shawano showed it was remembering that fateful day in two ways in 2026, the 25th anniversary.
At Olga Brener Intermediate School, students in the fifth grade gathered in the field next to the playground with a paper chain before the end of the school day. Each link in red, white and blue signified one of the people who died on 9/11.
The students brought the chain out in a circle so large that some students had to stand on the playground for a proper circle to be formed. Following a moment of silence, the students all came together and piled the chain links together as fifth-grade teacher Allison Braun spoke to the students about how 9/11 changed the country and how it was important for them to never forget the sacrifices, not only of the victims that day, but about all the first responders and other people who helped in the aftermath.
It is estimated that one-third of Americans today were not even alive when 9/11 happened. Braun lived through the experience, and she wants her students and others in the world to realize the significance of what happened to the country 25 years ago.
“Their relatives, their teachers — there are so many people that lived through this,” Braun said. “Even though we weren’t in New York, Pennsylvania, the Pentagon, we lived through it, and it was a very emotional time for all of us. We think it’s really important for our students to understand what happened during this time and the feelings and the facts behind it.”
The chain link ceremony is something that has been done for many years at Brener with the support of teacher Karen Preston. Preston is no longer at the school, so Braun helps to oversee it in her stead.
“I get teared up now thinking about it,” Braun said. “We wanted to make sure that her tradition of doing this and honoring those who passed away was carried on.”
More than 9,000 people have died in the years since from illnesses related to 9/11 from the toxic air and other conditions produced from the destruction. Braun said the classes have talked about those who have found out that being in the area where the attacks have caused cancer and various other illnesses that have killed first responders and others who helped to find people, both living and dead.
“We do talk about how the smoke and what they breathed in, and even the people in the area who have perished now because of it,” Braun said. “We haven’t talked about adding strips (for chain links) for them at this point.”
Matt Peterson, Brener principal, remembered where he was Sept. 11, 2001, monitoring the playground at Marion Elementary School before going over to the high school and seeing that the students were watching the televisions instead of the teachers providing lessons.
“This was back when we had the TVs on the carts,” Peterson said. “Before I got over there, a kid came over to me and said planes were crashing in the buildings. They were younger kids, so I just thought they were joking around, but that was before social media. I think we had cellphones then.”
Peterson, who was also Marion’s football coach at the time, remembered that everything slated to take place that day, including football practice and a middle school game, were cancelled after realizing what had happened.
“I remember the Green Bay public schools and the Appleton public schools cancelled school and sent everybody home because they were by an airport,” Peterson said.
Peterson noted that the book “The Red Bandana” has been the topic of much discussion at the school recently. The book chronicles Welles Crowther, who was working on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center and how he helped as many as a dozen people down a stairwell to meet firefighters before going back up to help others following the plane crash.
Crowther was known to always carry a red bandana he received from his father when he was 6 that he had at all his sporting events, including when he played lacrosse at Boston College, and the bandana stayed with him when he took a job at an equity firm in the tower in 1999.
“It’s a little more history now that it’s been 25 years,” Peterson said.
The second commemoration in Shawano saw more than a dozen firefighters, along with other people, join together for a walk leading from ThedaCare Medical Center-Shawano to the fire station on the north end of Shawano, a tradition that has gone on for years.
Along the way, drivers on Main Street honked their horns in support of the firefighters remember their fallen brethren.
At the end of the walk, Brent Buettner from AmVets Post 10 was waiting to play taps while the firefighters stood silently and saluted.
Mark Retzlaff, a captain with the Shawano Area Fire Department, remembered that he was in eighth grade when 9/11 occurred. It started out as a normal day at school when word broke out about the terrorist attacks, and the rest of the day was spent watching the news on the televisions at school.
“We were scared, not knowing if we were under attack or going to war,” Retzlaff said.
For Retzlaff, it’s important to keep remembering what happened that fateful day and support the fallen.
“A lot of people today have no idea everything that happened that day,” he said. “It’s important to remember.”
On that day, 343 firefighters died. Chuck Felts, SAFD’s assistant chief, noted that losing that many first responders in one day is something that should never be allowed to happen again.
“It captured a lot of attention,” Felts said. “It wasn’t just one engine. It was almost the entire fire department.”
Stu Kohlin, commander of AmVets Post 10, was waiting for the firefighters to walk by the Sherman tank at Memorial Park and saluted them as they walked by. Kohlin said he was delivering things to local restaurants Sept. 11, 2001, when he found out about the terrorist attacks.
“Listening to all the old radio (broadcasts) and telephone calls, that was pretty emotional,” Kohlin said. “It does seem like yesterday. It always seems like yesterday. People on the day of the Kennedy assassination remember where they were, but I was too young for that. Now I say where I was and what I was doing the whole day (of 9/11). Every time I stopped at a restaurant, I told them, ‘Turn the news on. Turn the news on.’ A lot of people were turning the news on, and they were just shocked.”
Even though the mantra is “Never forget,” Kohlin doesn’t think it’s possible for those who are alive that day to forget.
“This will be part of America for another 25 or 50 years,” he said. “I hope so.”
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
An American flag flutters high over Shawano with the help of apparatus in front of the Shawano Fire Station. (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Stu Kohlin, commander of AmVets Post 10, salutes as the firefighters walk along Main Street in their 9/11 tribute. (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Firefighters and others cross the road Sept. 11 at Lieg Avenue while continuing their journey to the Shawano Fire Station. (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Firefighters and others finish the last leg of the walk near Shawano Ambulance en route to the final destination of the Shawano Fire Station to commemorate 9/11. (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Fifth grade students from Olga Brener Intermediate School walk into the center of the circle they had made a few minutes earlier, carrying the red, white and blue paper chain where each link remembers a victim of 9/11. (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Fifth grade students are directed to spread out Sept. 11 across the field at Olga Brener Intermediate School with the chain that signifies all of the people who perished 25 years ago to the day in terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda. While the students were not even born when the fateful day occurred, their parents and teachers were. (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Brent Buettner with AmVets Post 10 plays taps Sept. 11 outside the Shawano Fire Station as traffic passes by while the Shawano Area Fire Department remembers those who died on 9/11 25 years ago. (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Olga Brener Intermediate School fifth grade students walk out Sept. 11 onto the playground at the school with the paper chains made to commemorate the 2,977 victims killed during the 9/11 attacks. (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Firefighters stand solemnly and silently as they salute an American flag Sept. 11 outside the Shawano Fire Station after completing a lengthy walk in full gear from ThedaCare Medical Center-Shawano. (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Firefighters and others finish the last leg of the walk near Shawano Ambulance en route to the final destination of the Shawano Fire Station to commemorate 9/11. (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
