On Thursday, Sept. 11, University of New Mexico Reserve Officer Training Corps hosted a memorial stair climb to honor the 2,977 Americans killed during the terrorist attacks committed on Sept. 11, 2001.
Led by the UNM Air Force ROTC, the event has been held annually over the last three years in collaboration with the U.S. Army and Navy ROTC branches at UNM, along with support from UNM Athletics, according to Air Force Maj.Vicente Vasquez, UNM associate professor of Aerospace Studies and director of operations for UNM Air Force ROTC.
“This year had several firsts, including our first year with local media coverage, first year with a chaplain to provide an opening invocation and first year with a bugler,” Vasquez wrote to the Daily Lobo.
Beginning at 6 a.m., ROTC students, staff, members of the Associated Students at the University New Mexico and UNM athletes began the ceremonial climb, walking up and down every flight of stairs at University Stadium, totalling 110 flights.
Memorial stair climb participants climb the equivalent of 110 stories of the World Trade Center to pay tribute to the New York City Fire Department firefighters who died rescuing people from the building, according to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
This climb was UNM senior Grace Romero’s third year participating in the memorial, she said.
“It's not even about what time you wake up and you do the stairs. It's about just doing it. You could do it in the afternoon, you could do it at three o'clock in the morning, you could do it at seven o'clock at night, and it still has the same meaning. You're still remembering those people, and you're still remembering why you're here,” Romero said.
Romero was thinking about the work of her father, a retired Air Force Master Sgt. and a firefighter, while completing the climb, she said.
“All I kept thinking about was how there's so many other people that either died that day or continue to put on that uniform with all their packs, and they have masks and everything. It's more remembering them and remembering where I come from and keeping that legacy alive,” Romero said.
For Air Force Technical Sgt. Emmette Bush, the memorial climb is important for keeping the memories of those lost on 9/11 alive, he said.
“They say that ‘people die two times,’ once, when they physically leave this world, and the second, the last time that their name is spoken. If we didn't do this every year, it would be a significant loss of lives that were lost on that day, as well as the things that came after,” Bush said.
In 2001, Bush — who is a second-generation Air Force service member — was living in Okinawa, Japan, where his father was stationed. Bush remembers seeing the news of the attacks on television when he woke up, he said.
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“The mindset that I was in 24 years ago as a kid is what caused me to join, why I serve and more importantly, why I teach my students, because a lot of them weren't there that day,” Bush said. “It only makes sense, carrying that legacy forward and remembering those that were lost.”
Capt. Akajiaku Eluka, the 377th Air Base Wing chaplain, said the resilience he saw in others during the climb helped keep him going.
“(The memorial climb) reminds me that freedom is never free, and anytime we have it, we got to guard it jealously (anyway) we can. We can’t afford to sleep, because the enemy is at every point in time looking for (an) opportunity to strike. The 9/11 event reminds us of the need for us to be on alert, 24/7, 365 days, every day,” Eluka said.
Bush reflected on the ways the U.S. and the world dynamically shifted from a pre-9/11 world to the post-9/11 world.
“Being an American isn't about polarization, It's about unity of effort. It's about care for your fellow man, regardless of where you come from, what you believe in,” Bush said. “Oftentimes those words don't necessarily resonate because of our personal opinions and feelings, but at the end of the day, to be an American, is absolutely a beautiful thing.”
Elizabeth Bolke is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo
Maria Fernandez is the copy editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at copy@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo
