Where were you twenty years ago on 9/11/2001? Most of us can recall exactly where we were and what we were doing when these tragic events unfolded. Yet, there are those who were not even yet born. All of us share in the loss of life and the heroes that gave their last full measure at the World Trade Center.
All across America, people attended or participated in events to memorialize this tragic day. The 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb is an event where participants will climb 78 flights of stairs which is the furthest any firefighter reached that day to commemorate and pay tribute to the first responders and civilians that died on that day. While many event sponsors do not have the infrastructure to match the 78 flights, they instead offer a ceremonial stair climb. This event was done at a local high school football stadium were participants climbed up and down through the stadium stairways.
Each time I saw the firefighter in this image, one could see in his deliberate and methodical stride as he climbed each step and his expression, that he was reflecting on the meaning of this day. As a veteran and retired police officer, I was proud to climb these ceremonial stairs and walk among this current generation of first responders and to reflect on the meaning of this fateful day.