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The 25 black-and-white portraits hanging on the walls of the National Veterans Art Museum in Chicago show a cross-section of people affiliated with the University of Illinois Chicago. 

In their solemn expressions and in their words in an accompanying 90-minute video, the UIC alums, faculty, staff and students share the impact the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks 25 years ago have had on their lives.

Some served in the military because of the attacks. Others watched the Twin Towers crumble on TV. Some weren’t yet born but grew up in a world that was forever changed by the events of that day. 

“I was not born yet, but in school they would wheel in the TVs and show us the crashes, the bombings,” said Fatima Jones, a recent UIC graduate whose photograph and interview are represented in “Never Forget 9/11 25th Anniversary” at the museum in Portage Park.  

The multimedia installation is the result of a partnership between UIC’s Student Veteran Affairs and UIC Creative and Digital Services. It is the brainchild of Mia Garcia-Hills, director of student veteran affairs, whose father was a Korean War veteran. 

She said she intentionally chose a cross section of students, faculty, staff and alums and was excited to see that the group reflected UIC’s microcosm of diversity with respect to ethnic diversity, sexual orientation and religious affiliation. 

“Two thousand and one was one of the most impactful years of my life, and UIC was the place where I feel I built the foundation for who I am today,” said Garcia-Hills, also an alum.

“I think what we learn from the stories is that we want the same things. We want to feel safe, supported and secure,” she said. “We want to be loved and express love, and we want to feel a connection to the person who is next to us.” 

Giselle Futrell (left to right), Chris Nightingale and Mia Garcia-Hills. Photographer Lisa Atwood from UIC Creative and Digital Services photographed 25 individuals for the UIC exhibit. Photos: Jenny Fontaine/UIC

Hear more about Garcia-Hill’s personal story and the exhibit on the This is UIC podcast

Giselle Futrell, the museum’s executive director, said hosting the exhibit has a personal resonance. She was serving in the Marine Corps in Okinawa, Japan, on Sept. 11, 2001.  

As the only museum in the nation dedicated to exhibiting art by artists who have served in the military, it was important to team up with UIC for the exhibition, said Futrell. 

“My life and many of the people I served with really changed after that day,” said Futrell. “Seeing these stories represented this specific way gives light to the stories that maybe people wouldn’t necessarily share. It gives it that space and that honor.”  

Unforgettable day

UIC alum James Brendel is one of the voices in “Never Forget.” Like Futrell, he was serving in the Armed Forces in September 2001. Brendel was stationed at Fort Drum in New York at the time, and he recalls preparing to fly his helicopter to an assignment when word came that the first of the two World Trade Center towers had been struck. 

“At that point, I was unaware that a second airliner had struck the South Tower. I returned to flight operations, turned in my logbook and keys and watched the news reports,” said Brendel, who earned his master’s degree in business at UIC in 2008. “About an hour later, the company commander called a formation to announce a heightened security posture and preparations.” 

Even with the change in status, he felt helpless. 

“It was the first time something so profound and tragic had directly impacted my life. We were there, ready to do the impossible things only the Army is called on to do, only to be rendered helpless,” said Brendel. “There was no one to save and no enemy to fight. We were vulnerable, an enemy had taken advantage and there was no immediate recourse.” 

The National Veterans Art Museum in Chicago will host the UIC exhibit “Never Forget 9/11 25th Anniversary.” The exhibit opens Sept. 11.

Photos: Jenny Fontaine/UIC

Last plane to New York

John Holton, director of strategic initiatives in the Jane Addams College of Social Work, said that on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, he was on a plane flying from Chicago to New York City. It would be the last plane allowed to land that day at LaGuardia Airport. 

“While we were approaching the airport, the first tower was hit,” said Holton. “What makes it so eerie was that it was a gorgeous day. Deep blue sky, not a cloud in the sky.” 

He could see the Twin Towers from the plane window, moments before they were hit. 

“When we landed, I overheard conversations with people on their cell phones saying, ‘What? A plane hit the tower?’ I just assumed it must have been a small Cessna-type plane,” said Holton. “I could not imagine what I was to see later that day.”  

In the taxi from the airport, he learned from the driver about the extent of the attack and that the surrounding expressways leading into Manhattan were closed, forcing the driver to drop him off in Queens. 

“You could see the buildings on fire,” Holton said. “From that vantage point, I saw the second tower completely come down. You see a lot in your lifetime, and at that point, my brain said, ‘That’s impossible.’” 

In the next moments, the buildings disappeared in massive plumes of smoke and dust.  

What happened in the aftermath, though, were surprising connections and cohesion among people, Holton said. People were drawn to each other. He befriended another passenger on his flight, and the two reconnect every Sept. 11. He said participating in “Never Forget” is another way for him to appreciate every living moment more fully. 

“You have to keep on living. You can’t allow yourself to get sucked in and succumb to the tragedy of life,” Holton said. 

Photos of people tied to UIC who recalled what 9/11 meant to them. Mia Garcia-Hills, executive director of UIC’s Student Veteran Affairs office.

Photos: Jenny Fontaine/UIC

Mixed feelings

UIC PhD student Robert Wolff was an undergraduate at Western Illinois University in September 2001. A friend called him in his dorm room and told him to turn on the news. 

“My first thought was that the pilot had to be drunk or there was some error; I was not thinking terrorism,” said Wolff, now associate director of the student veterans affairs office. 

After college, Wolff served in the Navy. Even so, he remembers disagreeing with the attacks being used as a rationale for invading Iraq. 

“In the months and years after that, it went from a focus on Afghanistan to all of a sudden we’re talking about Iraq, and that made no sense to me,” said Wolff. “In my mind, our country was leading us into a separate war, trying to tether Saddam Hussein’s Iraq to the terrorist attacks of 9/11.” 

He said being part of the project resurfaced difficult memories, such as how Muslim students faced discrimination and threats of violence despite playing no role in the 9/11 attacks. 

“The importance of this project for me came afterward, and thinking about what we actually as a country did,” said Wolff. 

For Creative and Digital Services videographer Nathan Nager, conducting the interviews for the 90-minute video was humbling, especially hearing the recollections from the veterans. The photos were taken by Lisa Atwood of UIC’s Creative and Digital Services. 

“I was fairly young when the attacks happened, about 7 years old, so it was interesting to hear personal accounts of what the adults experienced,” said Nager. “No matter where you were, you remember what happened and what changed afterward.” 

The exhibition is free and will open on Sept. 11 at the National Veterans Art Museum, 4041 N. Milwaukee Ave., 2nd Floor.