BLOOMINGTON - Medal of Honor recipient Al Lynch of Gurnee vividly remembers the assassination of President Kennedy, the day his friend was killed in Vietnam and the birth of his first child - and, of course, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. | Photo gallery | McCain, Obama commemorate 9/11 | Moments of silence across U.S.

He said he, like most people, can remember where he was, what he was doing and how it felt when he heard of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania farm field.

"I was shocked, and I couldn't believe what I was looking at," Lynch said. "It changed my outlook on the world … and I knew that there were bad people out there who wanted to hurt us."

Lynch spoke of his memories Thursday evening as the keynote speaker for Bloomington's commemoration of Patriots Day. The event honored the memory of about 3,000 people killed in the attacks, those who died trying to save them and the members of the armed services working to protect the country today.

"It was a beautiful morning, and suddenly you wake up and there is this horrible news," George Noud, of Shirley, said of Sept. 11, 2001.

"It was unbelievable … it was horrifying," his wife, Anne Noud, said.

The event featured the 50 Flags Living Memorial, patriotic music, awards honoring National Guard members and an emotional reading of 250 names of fallen Illinois servicemen and women and public safety officials from Sept. 11, 2001, to Sept. 11, 2008.

Earlier in the day, the Interstate Center hosted a career and benefits fair primarily for veterans. Also offered were support services for families of deployed troops.

During the reading of the names, a firefighter's bell was run and tableaus portrayed a variety of scenes, including a man imprisoned in what appeared to be a small bamboo cage and a soldier kneeling before a gun and helmet arranged as a makeshift battlefield memorial.

Two students from Leisa Barbour's fifth-grade class at Coleen Hoose Elementary School received a surprise after they read copies of letters they sent to troops in Iraq: One of the recipients, Staff Sgt. Greg Hoffman, came up from the side of the stage to greet them.

"I would just like to personally thank you, and we had so much that we would pass them out and hang them on a wall, which is now filled," he said of the letters.

One of the students, Alexys Ogorek, 10, said in her letter she wanted to thank Hoffman for everything that he is doing for Americans. The other student, Sean Kennedy, 10, said nothing can compare to the sacrifices Hoffman had to make.

Lynch, who personally carried three wounded soldiers under heavy fire during the Vietnam War, said it is the duty of every American to support the troops, become educated citizens and know the U.S. Constitution. More importantly, he said the United States needs to become a unified country at a time of war and set aside partisan politics.

A parade of 200 or more motorcycles carrying flags from the McLean County Museum of History to the Interstate Center that was supposed be part of the ceremony was canceled due to weather.

The ceremony was sponsored primarily by the Illinois Department of Employment Security; Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, an agency of the Department of Defense; and the U.S. Department of Labor/Veterans Employment and Training Service. The agencies also offered a reception to provide information on their programs and to honor employers who support National Guard members.