At 7 a.m. on Sunday, September 11, the Muscatine Fire Department, Muscatine Police Department, and the City of Muscatine gathered at the Muscatine Firefighters Memorial on the corner of Fifth and Cedar where a Moment of Silence was held in remembrance of FDNY Firefighters who perished in the World Trade Center attacks.
“We remember the citizens who died, the 343 firefighters who paid the ultimate sacrifice that day, the other responders who perished, and the families of the fallen who have had to endure more than we can know,” Assistant Fire Chief Mike Hartman said.
A memorial stair climb was also conducted in the training tower at the Public Safety Building at 9 a.m. Firefighter Joe Conlon participated in the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb that paid tribute to the 343 FDNY (Fire Department of New York) firefighters who lost their lives racing up the stairs of the Twin Towers to rescue victims of the attack.
The Memorial Stair Climb effort is 25 and a half round trips of the training tower and that is equivalent to the 2,200 steps, or 110 stories, that was the highest point firefighters reached on that day before the first tower collapsed. Spectators gathered to watch the stair climb from the alley behind the Public Safety Building.
At the end of the stair climb, a bell rescued from an old fire truck, was rung five times, a long standing firefighter tradition that is the bell code for back in quarters.
A video of yesterday’s moment of silence courtesy of the City of Muscatine can be found below:
