As the solemn 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks approaches this Friday, Team Red, White and Blue (Team RWB) is honoring the sacrifices made and the nearly 3,000 lives lost through its fourth annual 9/11 Stair Climb, which will be hosted at Citi Field in Flushing.

Beginning at 8 a.m., local veterans, service members and civilian supporters will climb 2,200 steps, which is the approximate number of steps first responders climbed while ascending the 110-story World Trade Center. Participants will have the option to climb the steps wearing a 40-pound ruck, representing the weight of the gear many firefighters carried that day.

The event is open to all, regardless of military affiliation. Interested participants can sign up for the stair climb, presented by TD Bank, by visiting RunSignUp.com (link here) or downloading Team RWB’s app at TeamRWB.org.

Team RWB, the nation’s leading military health and wellness community, was established in 2010 and consists of nearly 320,000 veterans, service members, military families and supporters across the country.

The nonprofit’s events and programs focus on four pillars: physical health, mental health, genuine relationships and a sense of purpose. Not only are veterans encouraged to attend in-person events, but they are also provided dynamic in-app programming.

Team RWB marches with flags through New York City during the stair climb.Photos courtesy Team RWB

Kian O’Donohue, the veteran engagement manager for Team RWB, supports chapters across the Midwest and Northeast, helping them to put on events such as the stair climb.

The purpose of the stair climb, O’Donohue continued, is not only to remember the lives lost that day, but to share with younger generations the meaning of first responders’ sacrifice. Many young people had yet to be born when the attacks happened, he explained, so the stair climb helps demonstrate the depths first responders and the American people went through for those that may not understand.

“Everyone remembers what they were doing that day,” O’Donohue said. “It was a moment where a lot of people signed up for the military. And it’s one of those things we never want to forget happened and the sacrifice first responders made.”

O’Donohue was a junior in high school when the attacks happened, recalling murmurings among classmates in the hallway about a plane hitting the towers but no one knowing what was going on. Students began gathering around TVs, he said, watching as the second plane hit the towers. 

“Just seeing those first responders in the soot, going up the buildings knowing they might not come down — it was a moment where I started seeing recruiters and signed up for the delayed entry program,” O’Donohue said. “I went to the army right after high school.”

Ed Rogers, a Disabled American Veterans (DAV) department service officer and New York State coordinator for Team RWB, recalled teaching a Kindergarten class when the attacks occurred. He said a friend who lived near the city kept calling him, which he found odd. He excused himself from the class and called him back. That’s when his friend told him what he saw outside the window of his Hoboken apartment. 

Both he and Rogers had a mutual friend who was working at the World Trade Center that day who died in the towers.

“No matter where you were in the country, what your beliefs were, everybody came together,” Rogers said. “We were there to support each other, no matter where you were.”

Not only did the attacks encourage people to enlist in the army for the first time, but Rogers said it also encouraged many veterans to re-enlist. Rogers, who left the military in 1991, said he himself tried to re-enlist but suffered injuries from his prior service that made it difficult to do so.

The anniversary of 9/11 is especially impactful to veterans whose reason to sign up for the army was the attacks, he continued, and it’s important these veterans stick together and have a community that supports each other.

“I think something like the stair climb is just going to create more engagement, friendships and comradery,” Rogers emphasized. “It brings us together just a bit more.”

Members of Team RWB at last year’s stair climb.Photos courtesy Team RWB