By Greg Jordan, Bluefield Daily Telegraph
PRINCETON, W.Va. — Some firefighters and police officers wore heavy rescue gear and other participants wore weighted vests as they climbed up steep bleachers and ran to honor the fallen first responders who rushed to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
Local firefighters, police and rescue squad personnel along with their friends and families came early Saturday morning to the Anne S. Hunnicutt Stadium for a memorial stair climb recognizing the firefighters, police and EMS personnel who answered the call when hijacked airliners were crashed into the World Trade Center’s iconic Twin Towers.
Lt. Rick Shagoury with the City of Princeton Fire Department described how local first responders planned to honor the people who died in the line of duty that day 20 years ago.
“Today we are honoring the 20th anniversary of Sept. 11 and we’re honoring the 343 firefighters that died that day, the civilians that died that day, the 60 police officers that died that day, the 55 military personnel that died and the eight EMS personnel that passed away that day,” Shagoury said. “So we’re honoring their lives by climbing 110 stories, which is the goal they were trying to accomplish that day.” …
