Thousands converged on Lambeau Field Saturday for the annual 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb.
Each year, Pierce Manufacturing sponsors the event where 343 people climb the stairs inside the bowl of the stadium to honor the 343 firefighters who lost their lives on September 11th, 2001.
Even though participation is limited to 343, thousands gather each year to try to get in line early enough to participate.
Ashley Smits, a local veteran who participated called the event a humbling and somber experience.
She told Seehafer News, “It is an amazing event to honor and respect the firefighters lost on 9/11. But I also think about all the lives that were affected by the attacks on 9/11. In NYC, the Pentagon, the field in Pennsylvania. I thought about those who were already in the military and then realized their life would change and all the people who joined after 9/11.”
She went on to say “Each step was significant to honor each person’s life that was forever changed. And there is a sense of pride, people uniting, patriotic, how it felt on September 12th.”
The stair climb is used as a fundraiser for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, with last year’s event raising more than $180,000.
No figures have been released from this year’s event as of yet.
