MIDLAND, Texas — Participants walked up and down steps in the Astound Broadband Stadium for the Tall City Memorial Stair Climb; this was done to simulate the one hundred and ten steps that firefighters had to climb during 9/11.
The turnout for the event included not only firefighters, current and former-- from Midland, Odessa, and the rest of West Texas but also members of the general public who just wanted to participate.
“I think it's very important for remembering 9/11, those lives lost," the event director Bryce Pruitt said. "This event is specifically aimed at remembering the lives lost of first responders on 9/11, the four hundred and eleven... I think it's important for first responders to participate in this event, I think it’s important for the general public to come out and support it.”
Participants got to wear a badge with a name of a first responder that they were specifically walking in remembrance of. When they finished, they'd ring a bell in the middle of the field, a symbolic gesture of their passing.
But this event meant so much more to the firefighters, current and former, that arrived at the stadium to participate.
Whether they knew each other or not, every one of them was connected.
“I think it’s an important event to bring guys together just for… Just to build community. We have firemen here from all over the place; not just Midland firemen but guys from Odessa are here, we got guys from all over West Texas that come to this event,” Pruitt continued.
The years may continue carrying on, but time will not erase the memory of the heroes that served on 9/11.