'It's Been a Long Time Without the Feel of Sunshine': Local Reactions to Bin Laden's Death

Sometimes it can take weeks for Oak Lawn news to reach Art Clark in Afghanistan. The Oak Lawn Police Department lieutenant and coordinator of the village’s emergency communications center is a colonel in the U.S. Marine Reserve.

Clark is currently on his fourth deployment to the Middle East since Sept. 11, 2001. Shortly after the holidays, Clark shipped out with his unit to Afghanistan for at least a year’s tour of duty.

But on Sunday night, Dr. Sandra Bury’s email informing Clark of reactions in the United States moments after President Obama’s announcement that U.S. Navy Seals had killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden reached Clark right away.

The moment was especially poignant because Clark spearheaded the movement to bring pieces of the fallen World Trade Center to Oak Lawn, where a honoring first responders will be built this summer and dedicated on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

In an email posted on the MonumentalOakLawn blog, Clark had this to say about Armed Forces’ reactions to the news that bin Laden had been taken out and thoughts of the monument at home:

“By now you have heard the news that Osama Bin Laden has been killed.  I can tell you that it has given all of us here in Afghanistan a renewed commitment to the work that still lies ahead. While it takes a while for news from Oak Lawn to reach me, I look forward to getting updates on the progress of the Memorial. I hope today’s event will inspire everyone there to help to complete this mission as well.”

Bury, an optometrist, is heading up the Oak Lawn Rotary Club's efforts to raise $100,000 for the , which will incorporate pieces of the World Trade Center. With Bin Laden’s death, her task has taken on a whole new urgency. Bury was on an optometrist mission in Lithuania the day of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“All of the translators’ cell phones started ringing,” Bury recalled. “They said, ‘We have terrible news to report from the U.S.,’ they told us, but we thought something was lost in the translation. After that, patient after patient came to the clinic in tears and held our hands and said, ‘God bless America.’"

Bury hopes that today’s young adults who grew up under the specter of 9/11 can experience some of the optimism of earlier generations.

“It’s been a long, long winter, and by winter I mean this past decade,” Bury said. “It’s been a long time without the feel of sunshine. It’s time to move on and redefine ourselves in some other way.”

Congressman Dan Lipinski expressed his thoughts the way so many other Americans did upon first learning of the special operation to remove bin Laden–on Facebook. On Monday morning, Lipinski wrote:

“Nearly 10 years after the attacks of Sept. 11 we can finally say, as President Obama did, ‘Justice has been done.’ The killing of bin Laden shows that we will do whatever it takes to hold accountable those who attack Americans. I want to thank all those whose dedication, skill, and bravery led to this long-awaited result. Now, as the President said, ‘Let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11.’”