CANTON ‒ Officer Teo Romero was among some 300 people who attended the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb sponsored by the Canton Fire Department to remember and honor people who died exactly 24 years earlier in terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
The Canton resident carried a flag imprinted with the names of all 2,977 victims killed when planes crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
“I just want to honor the people that passed away on that day,” said Romero, an officer at the Summa Health System Akron Campus. “That’s why I have this flag. So when I get tired, this will tell me to keep going.”
Canton Fire Department Division Chief Steven Henderson drew a parallel between the city firefighters who prepared for the Sept. 11 commemoration at the McKinley National Memorial on the day before, and those who died in the attacks.
“Twenty-four years ago, 246 people went to sleep in preparation for their morning flights. 2,606 went to sleep in preparation for the morning (in New York), 343 firefighters went to sleep in preparation for their morning shift, 71 police officers went to sleep in preparation for their morning patrol, 55 military members at the Pentagon laid out their uniforms, getting ready for their shift tomorrow at the Pentagon, eight medics went to sleep in preparation for their morning shift,” Henderson said.
“It was the last day that fathers and mothers hugged children, husbands kissed their wives, girlfriends hugged and kissed their boyfriends.”
Fire Chief Akbar Bennett: ‘We’re all in this together’
Fire Chief K. Akbar Bennett recalled the mood that permeated the country immediately after hijackers crashed planes that turned into bombs, crediting State Sen. Jane Timken, R-Jackson Township, for refreshing his memory.
“There was no political division,” he said. “There was no left or right. There was just Americans.
“We’re all in this together. So when you see a police officer, firefighter or your military, just give them a hug, give them a handshake and say, ‘Thank you for what you do’ because every day they sacrifice, not for the glory, but for the cause.”
Mayor William V. Sherer II said every step up the McKinley monument stairs symbolically retraces the path of emergency responders “who, without hesitation, ran toward danger while others were fleeing to safety.
“The McKinley monument steps are not the same as those in the World Trade Center but each step … we take carries the same spirit in service, bravery and selflessness.”
Firefighters were in grade school on 9/11
Among the Canton firefighter/paramedics making the trek in full turnout gear was Prince Anderson, who said his legs were shaking after six laps around the monument stairs, half the distance that would equal the trip to the top of either of the 110-story towers of the World Trade Center.
“I was in first grade, just leaving recess when the incident happened,” Anderson said. “We always remembered it. Growing up, I thought firefighting was something I wanted to do, and I became that. So I’ve achieved my goal. I’ve been at my job for eight years and try to come out every year to show support for all the fallen people.”
His girlfriend, Taylor Skunza, walked the steps with him.
“I just want to thank everyone for their service as paramedics, as firefighters, as police, and for everything that they do,” she said.
Each toll of the bell recalls a turning point
On his 10th lap around the monument stairs, Canton firefighter Rich Geiger said he felt a little tired but not horrible. He noted how the tolling of a bell at the time of each turning point in the 9/11 tragedy ― a plane landing, a tower collapsing ― refreshed in his mind the purpose for the trek.
He was wearing much of the turnout gear a New York City firefighter would have worn into the World Trade Center, including an air tank. But he was not carrying a 20-pound bundle of hose or a 10-pound Halligan bar they would have hauled up stairs. He estimated that a firefighter’s gear weighs 40 to 70 pounds.
He recalled being in his fifth-grade social studies class in Coventry Township when he and other students were sent to study hall while teachers watched the unfolding events in their classrooms.
Name tags worn in remembrance of those who died
Those who participated were invited to wear a name tag representing a first responder who died.
Loki Gressel of Akron wore a nametag of Patrick J. Lyons, a firefighter who was 34. The 21-year-old aspires to be a firefighter and paramedic, and plans to resume her studies in the field at Stark State College.
Canton police Officer Amanda Alberta bore the name tag of 35-year-old firefighter Sean S. Hanley.
Joyce Deskin of Canton wore one name tag for each of her grandchildren. She has attended each annual 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb the Canton Fire Department has held since starting the observance in 2019. They took a year off in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Retired Canton Fire Chief Thomas Garra gave the invocation at this year’s event. He cited from scripture John 15:13, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
“And that’s why we’re here today,” he said. “We’re here to look back and remember those who laid down their lives for their friends, their neighbors, their countrymen.”
Reach Nancy at 330-580-8382 or nancy.molnar@cantonrep.com.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: 9/11 speaker at Canton memorial: ‘The last day that fathers and mothers hugged children’
Reporting by Nancy Molnar, Canton Repository / The Repository
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