NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Local firefighters are remembering the heroes who died with a stair climb at Tad Gormley Stadium on Sept. 11.
“Today, I am climbing for George Cain. I actually met his mother when I did a climb in New York,” Neil Navarro with the Jefferson Parish East Bank Consolidated Fire Department said.
Navarro went on to say, “We do this for the families to show them that we have not forgotten.”
Step by step, Navarro is remembering those fallen comrades who never made it home on Sept. 11, 2001, 22 years ago.
“George Cain, I am sure he’d love to be here today to spend one more night with his wife, and family,” Navarro said.
Navarro became a firefighter after 9/11. It’s become his calling to remember those heroes.
“Two words came out of that day. Never forget,” he said.
He will “never forget” along with other local firefighters who showed their sentiments of solidarity by climbing the stairs in full at Tad Gormley Stadium.
“Two laps around is 93 floors. Flight-93 the passengers overcame the hijackers,” he said.
At 8:46 a.m., they began their climb, which is the same time the first plane hit the World Trade Center.
“Showing an appreciation that’s all we are hoping to do here,” Stephen Gibbs with the St. George Fire Department said.
Brennan Hood with the Baton Rouge Fire Department said, “It is an honor for me to be able to do this physically, mentally, to climb and remember them.”
“George Cain was my guardian angel today,” Navarro said.
Navarro went on to say, “Here we are 22-years later, proving that we have not forgotten.”
Navarro started the New Orleans Memorial Stair Climb, and the next one will be held on March 2, 2024. The Memorial Stair Climb helps raise money for families of those who lost a first responder on 9/11.
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