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Community Corner

Admiral Porterfield: '9/11 Broke the Heart of God'

Area residents, along with military, police and firefighters remembered the victims of Sept. 11, 2001, at the Cmdr. Dan Shanower Memorial.

The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 broke countless American hearts, but U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Richard Porterfield is convinced Americans were not alone in healing from the searing pain.

“Sept. 11 broke all our hearts, and I’m convinced that it broke the heart of God,” Porterfield said. “You may have seen the torrential rains in the East Coast last week, and I’m convinced those were God’s tears. But then the sun came out. We are not a nation that cowers; we’re a nation that moves forward. It’s time to move forward as a nation.”

Porterfield was the keynote speaker at Sunday’s Sept. 11, 10th anniversary ceremony at the Cmdr. Dan Shanower Memorial along the that was attended by military, police and firefighters and the community.

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Now retired, Porterfield was the senior officer of Dan Shanower, a Naperville resident who was one of 189 casualties when a plane crashed into the Pentagon. Shanower worked for the Pentagon’s Chief of Naval Operations Intelligence Plot, the leading naval intelligence agency.

The Shanower family—parents Don and Pat and siblings Jon and Dr. Vicki Wike—attended the ceremony with six Gold Star families, those who lost a loved one in military service.

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Jon, a lawyer, was happy with the support his brother and the nearly 3,000 victims received at the ceremony.

“It’s great to have all the folks from Naperville out,” Jon Shanower said. “It’s not surprising since they have been supporting us the last 10 years after 9/11. It’s great to see the continued support and we hope to see it go on in the future.”

About 500 residents came to honor the victims, including David Whitaker of Naperville, who watched the solemn event with his daughter Rose.  

“It’s a day of reflection,” Whitaker said. “My daughter wasn’t alive on Sept. 11; there are details you don’t want to tell a 4-year-old. It’s a difficult thing because you want kids to have that element of innocence, but as they grow older, you want them to appreciate what they have and be aware to what we are obligated to do as citizens.”

Maryion Harless of Naperville said she came to support Dan Shanower’s family and the other victims by attending the event.

“This is a small way to help,” Harless said. “It was such a day of devastation, but it was also a day of unity and resolve. There are so many conflicting emotions as war was brought to our country.”

Besides the Naperville Exchange Club, other local entities helped put on the ceremony— including the Boys, Girls and Cub scouts, the and Departments, Post 3873 and American Legion Post 43.

Peter Shamrock of Naperville, 14, was only 4 that fateful day, but with his Boys Scout Troop 111, he handed out small American flags to people.

“Sept. 11 was such a tragedy, so it’s in Scout nature to help out,” Shamrock said. “I didn’t get much detail about that day until seventh grade on who started it.”

Porterfield said Dan Shanower was a rising star in the Navy and would have been an admiral if he lived.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Porterfield was making his annual testimony to Congress at the Capitol when he heard two planes hit the Twin Towers. Porterfield immediately thought it was al-Qaeda terrorists and contacted Dan Shanower and his staff to keep the Navy’s senior leaders informed.

The Pentagon was already attacked when Porterfield arrived there, and he later found out from first responders that eight of the admiral’s staff, including Shanower, perished.

“It was a shock and a sense of great loss,” Porterfield said. “But Dan was one among many who said ‘you have to carry on the mission.’ While some fell on that first battlefield on the war on terror, his overriding concern would have been to pick up the pieces and move forward.”

The admiral said he visits Arlington Cemetery every 11th of the month where Dan Shanower and his seven comrades rest in peace.  

“If there is one thing I want people to remember was the sense of national unity in the hours, days and weeks following the attacks,” Porterfield said. “There were no political parties that mattered, but only the United States of America.”

In honor of Dan, his parents established a college scholarship in his name and the U.S. Navy has chosen to name its Enlisted Sailor of the Year after him.

Naperville Fire Chief Mark Puknaitis said the fire department would retire Badge 343 to honor the 343 fallen New York firefighters.

“Sept. 11 changed the world and ourselves forever,” Putnaikus said. “Let’s use that change to make us stronger and better citizens in the name of all the brave men and women we will truly never forget.”

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