The event celebrates the life and sacrifice of all 9/11 heroes, including FDNY firefighter Stephen Siller and FDNY Captain Billy Burke.
On September 11, 2001, Stephen Siller, a FDNY firefighter assigned to Brooklyn’s Squad 1, had just finished his shift and was on his way to play golf with his brothers. He suddenly got word over his scanner that an airplane had hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Stephen drove his truck to the entrance of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, strapped 60 lbs. of gear to his back and raced on foot through the tunnel to the Twin Towers. There, he gave up his life while saving others.
Captain William F. Burke, Jr. and his men were on the 27th floor of the North Tower when the South Tower collapsed. Billy immediately alerted the Captain of Ladder Co. 6 and the Officer of Ladder Co. 24, his original company, of the collapse. They, along with their men, immediately evacuated along with a number of civilians they were assisting, all surviving. Minutes later the North Tower collapsed and Billy perished along with the other innocents on September 11, 2001. He selflessly repeated, “keep going, I’m right behind you,” to keep his men moving to safety.
In 2015 I did the first climb and thought I need to share this with my family. My daughter Ciara was 15 agreed to climb with support from Kellenberg HS she was featured on Fox 5 Tower Climb special. I had asked Ret. FDNY Capt. Gerald Snell to join. He said “No” then when I said Ciara was doing it he signed up 5 minutes later. Jerry was in first responder wave we met at top. He shared with us his personal recollection of 9/11. Jerry had already co-founded LB Waterfront Warriors which was taking Veterans out of Walter Reed hospital reuniting them with their families for a vacation. We use LB Waterfront Warriors name as our team name. We actively recruit new climbers to experience this event and to honor our promise to Never Forget!!
