Central Texans remember fallen first responders from 9/11 at memorial stair climb

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - On Sept. 11, 2001 343 firefighters, 70 law enforcement officers and 9 ems workers all perished at the world trade center in New York City.

Almost 22 years later to the day, the Marine Corps League 975 Heart of Texas Detachment hosted the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb to remember all of those first responders.

At the event on Saturday morning at Jacob’s Ladder at Cameron Park dozens of Central Texans put themselves in the shoes of those at the scene of the deadly terrorist attack.

”My goal was to do it twice, I actually ended up doing it three times and it was intense,” walker Patricia Pedro said.

This is the fifth consecutive year the Marine Corps League has put on the event.

”We have a great country here and I want us to take pride in ourselves and remember those who have sacrificed a lot,” Rolando Hernandez with the league said.

The goal was 24 times up and down the stairs. Twenty-four laps multiplied by 88 steps is just a little more than the 2,000 steps that first responders climbed on that day.

”What were they thinking that day?” walker William Markum said. “Was it all adrenaline? Was it instinct? Did they know that today was going to be the last day for a lot of them?”

These walkers were all in different places across the globe when 9/11 happened, but Saturday served as an opportunity to imagine a different life, one where they were in New York City at the World Trade Center on that day.

In total, 2,996 people died in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. You can find more information about other local 9/11 events here.

Copyright 2023 KWTX. All rights reserved.