As the sun rose over the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, hundreds of students, Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) members and community participants climbed 110 flights of stairs — the height equivalent to the twin towers.
“Even though I wasn’t alive at the time of 9/11, you still remember the things that happened,” Johnny Lee, a first-year ROTC member, said. “You still live with the people who have to face the impacts of it every day, and you still have to live in a society where we’re in a post terrorist attack.”
The annual event called, “JAMES 9/11 Stair Climb,” was hosted by the Joint Assembly for Military-Associated Students (JAMS) on Sept. 11. The USC community and ROTC branches joined in remembrance of those who lost their lives in the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City.
The event is one of many that focuses on the connection and well-being of USC’s military students, according to the organization’s Engage USC page.
Tyler Bowden, a junior economics and mathematics major who isn’t involved in the USC ROTC program, said he felt a responsibility to continue the legacy of the 9/11 first responders.
“I think it’s great to see because it shows that people of our generation have empathy for something that they weren’t affected at all by personally,” Bowden said, referring to Gen Z. “It shows a real respect for either people that they know [or] that were affected by it.”
Lee and Bowden were both born years after the attacks and they still felt the impact. With more than 300 people in attendance and 2,071 steps climbed, the participants showed their respect with every step while emotionally banding together to remember the attack, according to Rebecca Wyman, a USC JAMS Assistant Director.
“USC JAMS is really just about bringing everybody who’s military related together,” Wyman said. “Being able to bring everybody together and align under a common cause has really just helped JAMS bring our community together.”
Other organizations in attendance included USC Undergraduate Student Government, USC Women’s Water Polo and other students and staff with no military connection. JAMS promoted the event to be open to everyone by following the University’s Notice of Non-Discrimination and providing accommodations to those in need.
Eddie Marquez, a firefighter at the Andrews Air Force Base who responded to the Pentagon on 9/11, was invited to speak at the event even though it “regurgitates all the memories that came in [his] head and makes [him] relive it.”
Marquez said his goal was to put the crowd inside the firefighter’s perspective and allow them to empathize with something they did not experience.
“Stay vigilant. Be aware. Don’t get so complacent all the time,” he said. “We get so complacent with everyday life. I think it’s a great thing to kind of just remember things like that, because a tragedy can happen within a second.”
The stair climb fostered a sense of solidarity among those in attendance, highlighting the multi-generational focus on remembering those who sacrificed their lives for the United States.
“We’re a nation. Our memories…don’t start and end with just me,” Ian Williams, a USC Navy ROTC Battalion Officer said. “From the beginning of the country, almost 250 years ago, we have a long history that we want to support, defend and uphold, to make sure that we are able to believe in what we do and [to] be able to fight for our future as well.”