Southern Illinois University hosted the 9-11 Saluki Stair Climb Tribute on Wednesday morning in remembrance of the 9/11 attacks on the United States and the ensuing Global War on Terror. First responders, veterans, SIU ROTC cadets, athletes, students and community members alike completed the workout in honor of those who lost their lives that day.
“It’s an event to remember those that gave their life or their life was taken on Sept. 11, 2001 in New York; Washington, DC; the Pentagon; and also in Pennsylvania, the four core airplanes that were hijacked,” U.S. Army Lt. Col. Garrett Slack said. “And then we always want to remember the first responders and the service members that had to do more after that.”
Advertisement
Slack is a professor of military science for the Army ROTC program at SIU. The event began with his opening remarks, in which he asked participants, by a show of hands, who was alive and remembered where they were on Sept. 11, 2001.
“My personal belief is that we need to remember what changed our world, and this event is a generational change,” Slack said. “Earlier today, I asked how many people were alive or remembering and about 50% of the audience raised their hand. I think what we’re doing is important because of that other 50%. They’re here to remember something that they weren’t alive for or they don’t remember, and we’re spreading that.”
“We’re educating our students here on campus, for sure, but making it available to the world that this happened, and this is what we do about it,” he added. “We as Americans, we didn’t forget. We support our first responders, we support our service members. We support and we remember those that fell that day.”
Advertisement*
The event is a long-standing tradition for SIU Army and Air Force ROTC units. SIU Director of Events and Outreach Sarah VanVooren said last year was the first year it became open to the public.
“Every time we do this, it just gets a little smoother,” VanVooren said. “It’s having online registration, so we have an idea of the number of people; online waivers, so people can fill that out in advance; and it just expedites the check-in process.”
Slack said, “I think this year it’s expanding, and we really appreciate that.”
The event was also relocated from Saluki Stadium to the Banterra Center this time.
“Saluki Athletics is very gracious in letting us use their facilities,” Slack said. “This year, we opted to plan it inside. It’s good for inclement weather. It also does improve the footing.”
At least 2,977 people lost their lives when the World Trade Center buildings were destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001, with 424 being first responders. Participants were encouraged to climb 110 flights of stairs, simulating the 110 floors the first responders climbed in each of the towers that day. Additionally, many local firefighters wore full gear in honor of the firefighters who carried 40 pounds of equipment that day.
As an alternative, participants had the option to walk or run 13 laps (2 miles) around the concourse of the arena, representing the evacuation distance from Ground Zero to the Brooklyn Bridge.
“One thing that the committee wanted to make sure there was available is anybody that needs an accommodation or wanted an alternative to running stairs for one reason or another had that option,” Slack said. “So…that lets everybody participate, not just people that can climb stairs.”
During his remarks, Slack told participants to “prove that you’re resilient.”
“Don’t give up,” he said. “It’s 110 flights of stairs. It’s 2 miles from Ground Zero to the evacuation [site]. Don’t give up. Prove you can do it. They did not give up, or they did not have the opportunity.”
275 participants pre-registered for the event, Slack said. Among those participants was Stan Reno, Chief of Police and interim city manager of Carbondale.
“This is a great event,” Reno said. “It’s a great opportunity to come together and show some camaraderie and really honor our heroes of 9/11.”
He also shared his memory of the day.
“I was a young police officer working in Carbondale, and it was very impactful,” he said. “[I had] just gotten off my midnight shift and began to watch these events unfold, and then immediately responded back to work as we began to sort out how this was going to impact the rest of the country.”
Slack described his own memories during his opening comments.
“Everybody can reflect in their own way, but for those that don’t remember it or weren’t there, I wanted to share my experience with them,” he said. “As a college student, as a soldier going to college, that’s what I was feeling. So that somber moment of reflection is where I was going for and now we’re starting to see the motivation come out as everybody’s doing the stairs.”
Undergraduate Student Government President Penny Bordewick said it was her first year participating in the stair climb.
“It feels special to be a part of something that’s bigger than myself today and to remember those who came before us,” Bordewick, who was born after 9/11, said.
She said it is important for the university to host this event in remembrance of “those in our communities specifically who are affected by this.”
“There’s Salukis everywhere, so it’s great for us to kind of go back and remember Salukis before us and make sure that we’re honoring, as a community, our first responders,” she said. “First responders are very important to our campus, between CPD [Carbondale Police Department] and the firefighters that we have that respond to our campus really quickly. So just taking a moment to kind of give them some time, remember them, thank them, that’s really important for us.”
For cadets, the event was an alternative to their physical training (PT) of the day.
“Air Force and Army ROTC have done the 9/11 stair climb for a number of years for their workout,” VanVooren said.
Grant Oliver, member of the SIU Army ROTC, said, “Instead of going out into the field and doing daily PT, we came out here kind of like, [to] show that we care, show that we’re active members of the community, stuff like that.”
Similarly, the women’s basketball team completed the workout together.
“I think it’s really good to bring the community together and focus on one thing…like lifting each other up, you know?” guard Jeniah Thompson said. “There’s hard times for a lot of people out there, they’ve lost a lot during this time, so just as a community being able to come together and do something [is important].”
Guard Kayla Cooper said, “We love doing stuff with the community and being able to honor those who fought.”
Cooper also said that what she wants people to take away from the stair climb is “just coming together, no matter what is going on in the world.”
“I feel like there’s so many people that lost their lives due to something very tragic,” she said. “And I feel like, a lot of people felt that when they were there or even years, years after, it’s still [affecting] a lot of people. So just bring the community together, make sure everybody’s safe.”
Putting the event together was “truly a group effort,” Slack said. The Saluki Stair Climb was sponsored by Air Force ROTC; Army ROTC; private donor Diana House and Family; Pepsi Mid-America; Saluki Athletics; SIU Department of Public Safety; SIU Events and Outreach; SIU Office of Vice Chancellor for Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; and SIU Veterans Services.
“I think the best thing is we had a lot of participation from the campus and community to make this happen,” VanVooren said. “So we had representatives from [the sponsors] and we really came together to work together to make this happen.”
Slack credits Commander of SIU Air Force ROTC Lt. Col. Chay M. Derbigny for playing a huge role in the planning of Saluki Stair Climb as well. Although Derbigny could not be present due to official business, he left a brief message for participants.
“It’s incredible to see the Saluki community come together to honor the bravery, sacrifice and resilience of those who responded to the tragic effects of September 11, 2001,” Derbigny said in a video. “Thank you all for participating, for remembering and for making this day.”
All in all, Slack wanted participants to spend the day remembering.
“Remember those that came before you,” he said. “Remember what happened. Remember what your country did in response. Because that’s getting passed on to the next generation and the next generation and the next generation. If we don’t learn from history, we might have to repeat it, and we don’t want to repeat this here.”
Advertisement
