Pictured above – Cadet Jason Perricone, a military science level IV student at Tech, walks up the stairs of Tucker Stadium at the annual 9/11 memorial stair climb.
Cadets climbed stadium steps to reach 110 flights of stairs in tribute to first responders’ sacrifices
Cookeville – Tennessee Tech University’s Army ROTC Golden Eagle Battalion commemorated the 22nd anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks with the annual 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb, held Saturday at Tucker Stadium.
Army ROTC cadets wore 35-pound backpacks as they climbed the stadium steps continuously to reach the equivalent of 110 flights of stairs, a tribute to first responders’ sacrifices on that fateful day. Members of the community were also invited to participate.
“Tennessee Tech’s Army ROTC Golden Eagle Battalion is committed to instilling the values of patriotism and service in every cadet that comes through our program – values that were never displayed more boldly than in the heroic response efforts to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks,” said Captain John Dowd, assistant professor of military science at Tech and a lead organizer of this year’s stair climb. “As the years pass, the need to pause and remind ourselves of the lives lost that day and the bravery and resolve shown by our fellow Americans is all the more important. It was our solemn honor to remember victims and first responders in this way.”
The stair climb commenced at 8:46 a.m., the time of the first aircraft’s moment of impact with the north tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.
A fixture on Tech’s campus for more than 70 years, the Army ROTC Golden Eagle Battalion currently enrolls 87 Cadets. Learn more at www.tntech.edu/armyrotc.
Photo courtesy of Tennessee Tech.
