A misty rain fell Thursday morning as more than a hundred of students gathered in a circle around a flagpole outside Eastside Connections School in Niles on the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

In the middle, Pastor Carl Bassett, of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, raised his hand to salute the American Flag hanging at half-staff as the crowd followed suit.

None of the students at Eastside were old enough to remember what it was like when the Twin Towers fell.

Bassett, a Special Agent Chaplain for the FBI, remembers the day all too well. He was sent to ground zero two days after the attacks to help with the recovery effort.

“It is still very real and still vivid today,” said Bassett, a Vietnam veteran. “I will never forget the impact of seeing how everyone worked together in such complete harmony — giving everything to help one another.”

Bassett’s hope is that everyone — even those who were not born at the time of the attacks — remember or learn for the first time how the country united under the flag and its principals after one of the worst disasters in modern U.S. History.

“I want these kids to know that freedom is not free, that there is a level of sacrifice that is needed,” he said.

Bassett was one of around 10 special guests, including veterans, firefighters and police, who visited Eastside Connections School on Patriot Day, which is observed on Sept. 11 in memory of the 2,993 people who lost their lives in the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

A moment of silence was held at 8:46 a.m. — the time of the first plane crash in a tower on Sept. 11.

Lauren Sheeley, a first-grade teacher at Eastside, said it is important for her students to learn about what happened and be aware of what the country went through.

She noticed its affect right away.

“They (students) say a lot of ‘thank yous’ to police officers and veterans and show a lot of gratitude,” she said. “They gave a lot of attention to the Pledge of Allegiance.”

In Sheeley’s classroom, Sharon Low, of Niles, talked to students about her experience serving as a medical corpsman in the women’s Army Corps from 1961-63. In another classroom, Vietnam veteran Al Walker spoke about his time serving with in the Marines.

“We are very thankful that so many people came today,” Sheeley said. “It turned out very well.”