‘Never forget’: Annual 9/11 stair climb event held Saturday

Published 3:00 pm Monday, November 15, 2021

THOMASVILLE — The tolling of a fire bell rang out across Thomas County Central High School’s football field, The Jackets Nest, on Saturday morning. Five rings of the bell, done three times, is a longstanding firefighters’ tradition of a call to an end of duty. On Saturday morning, it was done to pay tribute to the 343 New York City firefighters and EMTs killed in 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The community’s observance of the 9/11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York City, the Pentagon and aboard a flight that crashed in a Pennsylvania field was held Saturday.

“September 11 was the deadliest day in the history of America’s firefighters,” Thomasville Fire Rescue Captain Marshall Green said. “Firefighters and first responders across this nation have vowed to never forget. What does never forget mean? To never forget means to acknowledge the selfless courage that was demonstrated by hundreds of firefighters and fire responders who responded that day. To never forget is to honor and respect the 343 firefighters and 23 police officers and 37 Port Authority officers who made the ultimate sacrifice to carry out our mission.”

Part of the observance is the annual stair climb, as firefighters, police officers and civilians make their ways up and down the stadium’s steps, symbolizing the floors firefighters climbed in World Trade Center’s North and South towers to rescue people. 

“This is what we do,” Green said. “This is our chosen profession. This is the tradition of the firefighter. We have been steeped in this tradition for 200 years.”