KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Every year people find ways to memorialize 9/11. Stair climbs are one of the most common.
The first stair climb was noted back in 2003. The memorial climbs have the goal of reaching 110 stories which is the equivalent height of the World Trade Center.
On Wednesday at 6 a.m., University of Tennessee ROTC members participated in a climb lasting just over an hour. In a release from the university, they said approximately 230 Army ROTC and 140 Air Force ROTC cadets and staff members were expected.
Many of the ROTC members had not been born when 9/11 happened. Army ROTC Sean O'Hara is one of them and he said it's still important to keep the history alive.
"It's not something we went through but it's something we never want to see again," O'Hara said. "It's not something anyone wants to go through. So, I think it's important to remember it in that way, just so we don't repeat history."
O'Hara said this is his way of honoring those who lost their lives through action. He said doing something like a stair climb allows him to live through a little piece of what first responders went through.
"You always want to remember the people that have gone before you, especially in the military, there's a lot of people that have died and sacrificed themselves," he said. "So that's something we think about a lot. I think that translates to the firefighters and the police officers who also lost their lives."
Another member of his program, Jarrod Wright, said he remembers exactly what he was doing when the planes struck the Twin Towers.
"Our teachers had the TV on and I actually remember seeing the second plane hit the other building," Wright said. "Then we started hearing the news about the other planes, the Pentagon, it was unreal. We didn't know what to think. We didn't know what was happening."
Wright served 12 years in the military. He said while he's never paid tribute like this, he was prepared physically and emotionally.
"It's the walking and the remembering with each step you remember each life that was lost," he said. "You remember each floor of the buildings that collapsed. You remember all the lives. Everyone that went overseas afterward, all the damage and the destruction."
Lieutenant Colonel Damien Johnson is the Commander of the Air Force ROTC. He gave remarks before the climb and shared why it was important to have the climb at Neyland.
"It's not just important, but it's very special, right? We are the beneficiary, a gift, and the ability to run in Neyland to memorialize this is very special," Johnson said. "It's the first time we've done it. We anticipate we're going to do it in the future as a recurring event."