KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Step by step, with each breath becoming more difficult, hundreds of people climbed the lower level of Arrowhead Stadium on Wednesday. They did so to honor the 343 firefighters killed on September 11, 2001.
For about an hour, people walked up and down the stairs 30 times, which is the equivalent of the 110 floors that made up each of the Twin Towers.
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“I hope we never forget it. I hope we always do something like this in honor of those who gave their lives trying to save people, so I hope we always do it,” said Franklin Bohr, a volunteer firefighter with the Easton, Missouri Fire Department, which is a small town of a few hundred people outside of St. Joseph.
Despite having a hip replacement nine months ago, Bohr put on rough 70 to 80 pounds of gear in the Kansas City heat to honor those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
“That’s what they had to do. So, if I’m going to do it in their honor, I have to do it the same way they did it or the best I can,” he added when asked why he chose to wear the heavy gear.