More than 200 Nebraska ROTC cadets/leaders and Lincoln-area first responders took part in an annual 9/11 reflection in Memorial Stadium. The event gives participants the chance to climb 2,000-plus stairs — the same total that faced first responders who went into the World Trade Center towers after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The event included a presentation by Gabrielle Martinez, a second-class midshipman in the Navy ROTC program and junior nutritional science and dietetics major (pictured below). Her complete presentation follows.
9/11 Memorial speech
Gabrielle Martinez, second-class midshipman, Navy ROTC
Twenty-three years ago today, 19 men boarded four airplanes with the intent of shaking America to her core and destroying the lives of as many people as possible.
On that fateful morning 2,977 people lost their lives in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
What was a quiet morning turned into one of the darkest days in American history, over the deafening noise of the sirens was the unbearable silence of mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters, friends and colleagues, all who were taken too soon by senseless violence and hatred.
It is important today that we do not shy away from the sadness but that we remember these souls. That we remember the firefighters, the police officers, the paramedics, and the ordinary citizens, all who were brave enough to not run from the carnage that morning but towards it and offer any help that they could.
This morning, in memory of all souls lost in these senseless attacks we will be climbing 2,071 steps, the number of steps it would take to make it to the top of the World Trade Center that morning. This isn’t an easy task, but it's not supposed to be, each step is in honor of a mother or father that couldn’t go home that evening to their children, a son or daughter that never had the opportunity to grow old, a first responder who bravely ran up, while others ran down. I urge you to carry that burden and the gravity of this event with you this morning.
Huskers remember
ROTC students and first responders climb stairs in Memorial Stadium on Sept. 11, 2024. More than 200 attended the annual observance.Craig Chandler | University Communication and Marketing
ROTC cadets enter Memorial Stadium through the Huskers' tunnel walk gate prior to the 9/11 observance.
ROTC cadets participating in the memorial were joined by active duty members including National Guard Sgt. John Rife (left).
Air Force ROTC cadets give each other fist bumps in celebration of reaching the top of South Stadium.
Cadet Wyatt Christensen (center) joins other ROTC members for a quick rest between climbs.
Austin Robertus, a first responder with Lincoln Fire and Rescue, joined the ROTC cadets in the Sept. 11, 2024 stair climb in Memorial Stadium.
Army ROTC cadets climb the steps in West Stadium.
Group photo of the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines ROTC students who participated in the Sept. 11, 2024 event in Memorial Stadium.
