Northwest remembering fallen firefighters of 9/11 terrorist attacks

The Northwest community and local firefighters will climb the stairs of Bearcat Stadium again this fall as the community remembers the events of Sept. 11, 2001, during its third annual 9/11 Stair Climb. (Northwest Missouri State University)

Northwest Missouri State University invites the community to join the University in remembering the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and pay tribute to the 343 who climbed the World Trade Center staircases and perished that day. 

In honor of the fallen firefighters, Northwest will host its third annual 9/11 Stair Climb from 7 to 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 9, at Bearcat Stadium. 

Attendees may participate in the 2,071-step climb as individuals or register in teams of two to five people. Registration will be located in Bearcat Stadium on the morning of the event. All participants will receive a 9/11 laptop sticker.

Northwest’s Student Veteran Organization, Show-Me Gold Program and the Maryville Fire Department are collaborating to host the event with the University.

“This event is so important for the community to participate in because of its significance in our nation’s history,” said Zakary Moore, the president of the Student Veteran Organization and a senior from Beatrice, Nebraska, majoring in political science major with a global affairs emphasis. “Paying respect to the scores of brave men and women who risked or lost their lives that day is just as important today as it was two decades ago.”

The Maryville Fire Department will start the event with a bell ceremony and moment of silence. Additionally, Northwest will play footage of the events of 9/11 on the Bearcat Stadium video board.

On Sunday, Sept. 11, the Memorial Bell Tower, located at the center of the University campus, will chime at 8:46 a.m., 9:03 a.m., 9:37 a.m. and 10:03 a.m., marking the times that each of the four planes crashed on 9/11. 

On Sept. 11, 2001, militants hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States, flying two planes into the World Trade Center’s twin towers in New York City and a third into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., as a fourth plane crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. A total of 2,977 people died as a result of the attacks, including 343 firefighters and paramedics, 23 New York City police officers and 37 Port Authority police officers who were attempting to evacuate the buildings and save people who had been injured.