TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A quarter-century after the Sept. 11 attacks, communities across the country paused to remember the lives lost and the first responders who ran toward danger.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and United Flight 93. Moments of silence and other tributes marked the day.
In Tallahassee, first responders honored those who died with a stair climb inside the Florida State Capitol, where participants went up and down the stairs of the 22-story tower in tribute to 9/11 first responders.
Conner Cobb, a 19-year-old firefighter with the Tallahassee Fire Department, said he first learned about 9/11 through history books.
“I was probably third grade whenever I learned about it. But at that point it didn’t really connect with what happened because I was so young. But, I mean learning about it more it just makes this experience even more of an honor,” Cobb said.
Inside the Capitol building, EMTs from across the Big Bend climbed the stairs step by step.
Organizer Alan Hanstein said the event was designed to reflect the height of the World Trade Center towers.
“It started just as a way to honor the day in realizing that if we did it five times, and twenty-two stories times five is 110. That’s what was in each tower, so it seemed fitting,” Hanstein said.
The script notes that 443 firefighters died during the events of 9/11.
Kurt Hindle, a battalion chief, said remembering those who went into the towers is essential.
“This radio could go off now and it could be the last radio call that we ever hear. It’s real, and to know that those people going into that tower. Those Ladies and gentlemen went in, they know it was a good chance they weren’t coming out. They still went, they still went up those stairs, they still did the job. And what we should do, the rest of the country we should recognize that, not forget that,” Hindle said.
Cobb made it to the 22nd floor, the top of the Florida State Capitol building.
“That’s 110 flights of stairs, finished!” he said.