More than 160 heroes from across North Texas participated in the Second Annual 9/11 Memorial Tower Climb in downtown Fort Worth, an event held in memory of those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001.
First responders who participated in the Sept. 9 event hosted by Fort Worth’s City Center climbed the Bank of America Tower from the ground to the 36th floor three times to approximate the 110-story climb to the top of the World Trade Center. Each climber wore a lanyard with a photo and name of a first responder who answered the call of duty that day.
Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes addressed the 166 participants representing 45 North Texas organizations, along with over 300 citizen supporters who were on hand to watch the climb. Noakes said it is because of people such as the heroes of 22 years ago and those of today that the United States is “the greatest country on God’s green earth.”
“People like the heroes on 9/11 made the ultimate sacrifice for what Abraham Lincoln called in the Gettysburg Address ‘That last full measure of devotion,'” Noakes said. “But it’s not just the way they died. It’s the way that they lived. They answered a call; they answered a call to serve. Ladies and gentleman you have, too.”
Mary Jane Coker, Senior Project Manager at Aardvark Communications, spoke on behalf of City Center and called the event “a solemn reminder.”
“We want to continue the Memorial Climb as a reminder that our first responders were the real heroes on 9/11 and every day in our communities,” she said.
Of the 2,977 victims killed in the 2001 attacks, 415 were first responders, including 343 firefighters; 37 Port Authority and New Jersey police officers; 23 New York City police officers; eight private EMTs and paramedics; three New York State Court Officers; one New York Fire Patrol officer; and one FBI Special Agent.
This was the second year for City Center to host the climb. Coker said participation increased from the inaugural event, both in terms of climbers and audience.
“We look forward to growing this event in Fort Worth to always remember the sacrifice of the brave men and women who lost their lives in New York City, Washington D.C. and in Pennsylvania,” she said, referencing the hijacked plane that crashed into the Pentagon and another that passengers forced to crash in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Among those in the audience were visitors as young as age 2 alongside members of the community who have experienced a lot of life.
“We heard from many families who brought their children to the event because they want them to know the history of 9/11 and the impact it had on our country,” Coker said. “The youngest members of our community who attended want to know what happened that day and to hear the stories told about the heroism of the first responders.
“We changed the layout of the event this year, to provide an opportunity for the attendees to be able to see their loved ones as they are climbing, but also to witness them complete the event as well.”
All activities took place on Commerce Street, from the opening ceremony with the Fort Worth Police Department ceremonial teams (pipe and drum band and honor guard), to watching the participants climb on the big LED wall via cameras inside the stairwells, to completing the climb at street level and ringing the fire bell as they placed the name of the fallen hero they climbed for on the memory board.