Carlos Yanez Jr. was a freshman at Daley College and was watching TV when his pit bull-mixed dog, Brownie, jumped on his bed Sept. 11, 2001.
The impact of Brownie’s jump caused the channel to change and he saw news coverage of the attacks on the World Trade Center.
“I thought it was a ‘Die Hard’ movie at first,” Yanez said Wednesday. “I actually saw the second plane go into the second tower.
“I literally ran to my parents’ room and woke up my dad and stepmom and I said ‘We’re getting attacked!’ I’m getting chills right now just talking about it.”
Little did Yanez know that decades later, he would have a big connection with the 9/11 attack that would benefit him greatly.
Twenty years later, Aug. 7, 2021, Yanez, now a Chicago police officer, was shot in West Englewood. His partner, Ella French, was killed and he was shot four times in the head, once in the shoulder and he lost his right eye.
Injured Chicago police Officer Carlos Yanez Jr. stands Feb. 4, 2026, in King-Lockhart Memorial Park in Chicago, near a piece of a beam from the World Trade Center destroyed during the 9/11 attacks. (Jeff Vorva/for the Daily Southtown)
Yanez was at King-Lockhart Memorial Park in Chicago Wednesday to applaud and show support for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation as it was announced as the 2026 grand marshal of the South Side Irish Parade, which will kick off at noon March 15 in the Beverly and Morgan Park neighborhoods.
It was also announced that St. Christina Catholic Parish, celebrating it 100th anniversary, will be the parade’s honoree.
Tunnel to Towers, which helps fallen and injured officers and their families, was launched after the 9/11 attacks in honor of New York Fire Department’s Stephen Siller. Siller died on 9/11 after racing more than a mile with 60 pounds of equipment through a tunnel to get to the Twin Towers.
After he reached the South Tower it collapsed, and his body was never recovered.
That night Siller’s family came up with a plan in Siller’s name to help first responders and military personnel across the country, according to Aric Grooms, Tunnel to Towers senior manager of development.
The foundation offers mortgage-free homes for families and smart homes for catastrophically injured first responders and veterans.
Aric Grooms of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, the 2026 South Side Irish Parade’s grand marshal, speaks Wednesday at King-Lockhart Park in Chicago. (Jeff Vorva/for the Daily Southtown)
“If you are a member of our first responder or military community and you kiss your children goodbye in the morning and you don’t make it home from your shift, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation will provide your family with a mortgage-free home,” Grooms said.
He said they have provided more than 1,700 homes and said this year the foundation wants to honor the 343 firefighters who died on 9/11 by providing 343 homes and 100 individually adaptive smart homes.
Yanez, who now lives in Willowbrook, will have his home turned into a smart home. He admits he is not sure what that will entail, but he is looking forward to the finished product.
“I’m blessed,” Yanez said. “I’m completely blessed. Truly, from the bottom of my heart I am blessed.
“Tunnel to Towers is such an amazing organization in changing lives. I hope they know they have impacted so many lives with all of the families and the children.”
St. Christina is an honoree not only for the 100th anniversary milestone, but because 80% of children attending its grammar school are sons or daughters of fire and police officers, parade officials said.
The Rev. Ryan Brady, pastor at St. Christina Catholic Parish, gives thanks Wednesday for having his school named as an honoree for the 2026 South Side Irish Parade. (Jeff Vorva/for the Daily Southtown)
The Rev. Ryan Brady is the pastor and a chaplain of the Chicago Fire Department.
“We are a parish of first responders,” Brady said. “We are a selfless community. I would like to say very proudly that they are heroes and are selfless men and women who give of themselves for our neighbors and our friends.”
Parade Committee Chairman Bill Letz said the parade started in 1979 with a small number of family members marching around the block to honor their Irish heritage, and it took off from there an tens of thousands of spectators show up.
“It’s one of the largest community St. Patrick’s Day parade events outside of Ireland,” Letz said.
This will be the 48th parade and the organization is hosting a pre-parade fundraiser at 3 p.m. on Feb. 21 at 115 Bourbon Street in Alsip.
The cost is $50 and includes beer, pop, water and music from the Larkin and Moran Brothers and Whiskey Mick.
The parade’s queen will be announced at the event.
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/04/south-side-irish-parade-9-11-connection/
