Tennessee ROTC Students Climb Neyland Stadium Stairs To Honor 9/11 First Responders And The Fallen

It's been 23 years since the tragic attack on America on 9/11 that led to so many lives lost. But in that moment, we also saw the courage of so many first responders who sacrificed their lives to help save others. 

Whether it was the passengers on ‘Flight-93’ or the firemen, police officers and responders who ran into the World Trade Center to help rescue as many people as they possibly could, we saw the true spirit of America in the aftermath of those tragic few hours. 

On this day, we always remember the lives that were lost, and the ones who sacrificed their own lives, and the annual symbolic ways that folks choose to honor the fallen and those who ran into action.

For University of Tennessee students who are also ROTC members, they decided to use Neyland Stadium as a way to pay their respects to the brave souls that ran into the World Trade Centers on that tragic day 23 years ago. 

Starting at 6 a.m. on Wednesday morning, members of both the UT Knoxville Air Force ROTC and UT Knoxville Army ROTC took to the iconic stadium to pay tribute to the first responders in their own unique way, according to the Tennessee Instagram account.

"Though many many of us may not remember 9/11 due to our youth or because we were not yet born, the profound impact of that day is a shared experience," the Cadet Wing Commander said on social media. 

'The towers are 110 stories high, so we attempted to climb the 110 stories to honor the first responders who went to ground zero on 9/11 and those who lost their lives." 

As folks across the country have their own ways of honoring those that did not make it, and the ones who chose to enter those buildings or fight to make it into the cockpit of ‘Flight-93’, we will never forget those who did not come home that night. 

For the first responders who sacrificed their lives, we will continue to honor them in many different ways, as the ROTC members at Tennessee did on Wednesday. 

Written by
Trey Wallace is the host of The Trey Wallace Podcast that focuses on a mixture of sports, culture, entertainment along with his perspective on everything from College Football to the College World Series. Wallace has been covering college sports for 15 years, starting off while attending the University of South Alabama. He’s broken some of the biggest college stories including the Florida football "Credit Card Scandal" along with the firing of Jim McElwin and Kevin Sumlin. Wallace also broke one of the biggest stories in college football in 2020 around the NCAA investigation into recruiting violations against Tennessee football head coach Jeremy Pruitt. Wallace also appears on radio across seven different states breaking down that latest news in college sports.