Remembering 9/11
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill commemorated the 14th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 with a stair climb, ceremony and flag memorial.
As the fog rolled through a dark Kenan Stadium on Friday morning, the sound of 400 stomping feet radiated from the stands.
Running up and down 110 flights of stairs, UNC ROTC cadets were joined by local law enforcement officers and firefighters to honor the victims of Sept. 11, 2001.
“September 11th was a tragedy and we’re out here to honor their memory by running an equivalent of 110 flights of stairs,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jeremy Smith of the Army ROTC.
The early-morning run was just one of many ways the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill memorialized the 14th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
From a ceremony attended by Chancellor Carol L. Folt at the 9/11 Memorial Garden near George Watts Hill Alumni Center, to the playing of “Taps” scheduled for dawn and dusk, Carolina remembered the nearly 3,000 victims of the attack, which included six alumni:
- Karleton Douglas Beye Fyfe ’92
- Mary Lou Hague ’96
- Andrew Marshall King ’83
- Ryan Ashley Kohart ’98
- Dora Menchaca ’78
- Christopher Quackenbush ’79
Remembrance events began Thursday night as more than a dozen members of UNC’s College Republicans planted nearly 3,000 flags near Wilson Library. The flags, which will remain on Polk Place through Friday, represent the lives lost during the attack.
Early Friday morning, Air Force Cadet 3rd Class Vincent Lewis performed “Taps” near the temporary memorial near the library. An elementary school student at the time of the attacks, Lewis said he didn’t remember much of the day, but was honored to play at the memorial.
“It was really inspiring,” he said. “It really hit home, especially when I was sitting over there [on the steps of Wilson Library] and just looking at it. I was playing for a purpose.”
As Lewis’ bugle broke the silence at Polk Place, nearly 200 runners were working their way up and down the steps of Kenan Stadium. In its second year, the Stairs to Remember run aims to honor the victims and first responders who lost their lives in the attacks.
The 110-flight climb, Smith said, is a nod to the first responders who ran into the World Trade Center to try rescue stranded victims.
“It’s truly an honor to emulate what they did,” said Andrew Scott, a junior biology student in the Army ROTC.
Several runners even wore extra gear to better understand the task faced by the first responders in 2001. Carrboro Police Officer Steven Dixon strapped 45 pounds of equipment to his chest as he made his way through the stadium aisle.
“When they were running up the towers, they had their gear,” he said. “I just wanted to see what it would be like to do that. … It’s going to remind me of the sacrifices they gave. They didn’t know what they were running into.”
For Scott, who was in fourth grade in 2001, the event — and the day — is a way to keep the memory of the victims of the attacks and military conflicts that followed.
“I try to remember what happened that day, and focus on the sacrifice people made — willing or not,” he said. “It’s really important to remember what happened.”
