Hundreds join firefighters for 9/11 memorial stair climb at UD Arena

DAYTON — Hundreds of people continued to remember the nearly 3,000 people killed on Sept. 11, 2001.

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Firefighters, first responders, and community members across the Miami Valley gathered for a memorial stair climb and walk at the University of Dayton Arena on Saturday.

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For many, it’s a new way to teach a new generation about the 9/11 attacks.

“It’s slipping from memory into history basically, so it’s harder,” said Colin Altman, a retired firefighter.

He organizes the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb every year.

Altman told our news crew that stair climbs like this across the country are a way for many to remember the first responders climbing the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center 25 years ago.

“I think it’s an important part of our history as Americans and on the planet,” said Altman. “You know, such a massive event, spurred by hatred, and you know people need to remember that. Remember the sacrifice of the firefighters, the police officers, the military at the Pentagon, the flight crews.”

It’s been 25 years. Fewer people are showing up to events like this.

“To see young adults and children with their parents doing the climb or doing the walk because you know those parents are teaching their children what this is about,” said Altman.

Governor Mike DeWine said it’s important to keep that lesson going.

“It’s good to see so many young people who would have no memory, weren’t even alive, weren’t born then, coming together,” he told our news crew.

Altman said that he will always what came after 9/11 just as much as the attacks themselves.

“In those days after 9-11, we truly were one united country. Everybody was working together,” he said. “The president was seen as a hero and a champion keeping us together. And our divisions seemed silly.”

This was the 12^th year of the event at the UD Arena.

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