Troy AROTC and AFROTC hold fifth annual 9/11 Stair Climb

Troy University’s Air Force and Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (AFROTC and AROTC) held the fifth annual 9/11 Stair Climb last Thursday in honor of those who lost their lives 24 years ago.  

From 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Troy students, faculty and staff, as well as local first responders, community members and T-Roy gathered to climb a total of 1,980 steps, the same amount as one ascent of the World Trade Center. 

Before the stair climb started, participants gathered for the national anthem and an opening speech from Cadet Third Class Aiden Barnhardt on behalf of AFROTC, as well as a few words from Chancellor Jack Hawkins Jr. 

Chancellor Hawkins offered some words on the importance of the event. 

“I think today represents a major step towards reminding everyone the significance of the date, what happened then and what happened in the aftermath,” Hawkins said. “You know America is a resilient place and what started as tragic ended in the reunification of the American people. 

“I think we need that [patriotism] again in America and for our students to be here, to make the sacrifice that they are willing to make, makes a statement for all of us.” 

Gabriel Jones, a junior criminal justice major from Fort Wainwright, Alaska, who recently joined AROTC, shared his experience and the impact the event had on him. 

“It’s been great, and when you see everybody else getting moving, it motivates you to just keep pushing yourself,” Jones said. “Seeing everybody at Troy University coming together and uniting for a cause makes you feel good.” 

Troy Fire Department Sergeant Ethan Brown, who was among those completing the climb in full firefighter gear, shared his experience. 

“It’s tough, with the weight of everything I’m wearing, it hits pretty hard,” Brown said. “I started getting fatigued real early, and we’re only a quarter of the way in, but I’m feeling it.” 

Among the students participating in the stair climb were multiple of Troy’s Greek organizations. Alpha Gam President Rachel Ruoss, a senior nursing major from Huntsville, Alabama, shared her thoughts on the event. 

“[The stair climb] shows me the sacrifice that people were willing to make for ordinary people just like us,” Ruoss said. “It’s okay for me to take an hour out of my day to come and do this because somebody did this ten times harder and didn’t make it through at the end of it.”  

As a firefighter himself, Brown shared what he hopes participants took away from the stair climb. 

“Guys just like me had to undergo all this pain and suffering just to try to get up to save somebody, and most of them didn’t make it,” Brown said. “It’s important that we remember them and try to get a little feel for what they felt that day. 

“I hope others realize the simple physical fitness it took just to perform lifesaving duties.

Simply climbing the stairs under no stress is pretty easy compared to what they had to do under the stress and life-threatening circumstances.”