Liberty honors 9/11 victims and heroes with Memorial Stair Run, special Convocation

Through multiple events on Friday, Liberty University honored the families, heroes, and nearly 3,000 Americans who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Before sunrise, more than 300 cadets from Liberty’s Army and Air Force ROTC programs participated in the annual 9/11 Memorial Stair Run at Williams Stadium, where they remembered the many law enforcement officers and firefighters who relentlessly navigated the Twin Towers and rescued thousands before many perished in sacrifice. To honor their heroism, cadets ran 2,200 stairs, equivalent to 110 stories — the same height as the World Trade Center.

“It feels amazing to have completed (the run),” said senior national security and intelligence student Timothy Grabinski, an Army ROTC cadet who helped organize this year’s stair run. “To see 300 people, future leaders who are dedicated to this memorial and this program really just shows that we have good leaders out there. … It took a lot of courage and sacrifice for them to go up in that tower, not knowing how far up they were going or whether they would come back down or not.”

“It’s a blessing to be at a university that’ll host us and support us as a military program,” said Jackson Feldpausch, a senior ROTC cadet studying strategic communications and military leadership. “It’s a blessing to use the facilities here just as if we were D1 athletes.”

Before the run, participants — including members of Liberty’s Murph Club and Semper Fi Society — watched a testimony on the stadium’s videoboard of six firefighters (Tom Falco, Mike Meldrum, Jay Jonas, Billy Butler, Sal D’Agostino, and Matt Komordwski) who refused to abandon 59-year-old Josephine Harris in the North Tower despite her pleading with the firefighters to save themselves.

Harris had descended dozens of stories but was too fatigued and injured to escape when she encountered FDNY Ladder Company 6 on the 20th floor of Stairwell B inside the North Tower. Despite her pleas, the brave firefighters refused to abandon her. The slow descent became the company’s saving grace: although trapped by the North Tower’s collapse, Stairwell B miraculously remained intact enough to provide a surviving path to safety.

Participants in the run kept the memory of those firefighters in the forefront of their minds as they climbed the stairs at Williams Stadium, as well as the memory of the many law enforcement officers and other first responders who weren’t as fortunate.

“I personally am honored to be part of an organization, a school, that attributes proper significance to the sacrifice of life,” said Courtney Trahant, a member of Liberty Air Force ROTC who wore a weighted vest during the run. “There’s no better way to develop ourselves than through blood, sweat, tears, loyalty, grit, and pain. … I think it’s important because there’s no greater honor, no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Later in the morning, campus welcomed Lt. Gen. Richard E. “Tex” Brown III, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), to the Convocation stage. Brown, a decorated military veteran and former Acting Assistant Vice Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force, was inside the Pentagon when Flight 77 struck the west side of the U.S. Department of Defense headquarters, killing 184 people, including the 59 people aboard the plane.

Brown shared with students his experience commanding the U.S. Air Force on that fateful day, and how the terror attacks changed America’s approach to defense forever.

“It changed our lives,” Brown said, noting that the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration were major departments created in response to 9/11.

Brown said that when United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower at 9:03 a.m. (17 minutes after American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower), there was “no doubt in any of our minds, right then, this was intentional.”

“This was not an accident. … This was an attack,” Brown remembers saying, noting that he had a hunch that the Pentagon may be targeted next. He said at 9:36 a.m., he felt two explosions — the plane’s impact and then when the plane’s fuel exploded.

Brown, gleaning from Ephesians 6:10-18, finished by encouraging students to arm themselves with the Armor of God.

“Our battle isn’t against Iran. It’s against the spiritual forces of evil,” he said. “We put on the Armor of God. We do it boldly, we do it as believers, and we do it as Americans.”

Convocation also included a memorial video, a bagpipe rendition of “Amazing Grace,” and a moment of silence to remember the lives lost on 9/11, the heroes who responded, and the families whose lives changed forever. Chancellor Jonathan Falwell led students in prayer.

“Whether it was at the Pentagon, the Twin Towers in New York City, or whether in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, what took place that day forever changed our country,” Falwell said. “Your lives were changed dramatically as a result (of that day), even though you don’t know it. And so, today, we’re going to take the opportunity of remembering those who lost their lives.”

Later Friday evening, Liberty’s Division I Men’s Hockey team will host American Heroes night for its regular season opener at the LaHaye Ice Center. The contest will be sponsored by Impact First Responders and will honor all firefighters, police officers, EMTs, and paramedics.