Jake Blackwell can’t hold back his emotions every year when he completes a 9/11 memorial climb.
Blackwell, a member of the Paducah Fire Department, knows the story of Fire Department of New York City member Anthony Rodriguez, who was 36 when he died on September 11, 2001. Rodriguez had clocked out from work and was heading home to Staten Island when he heard the call on his radio. He turned around and headed toward the danger.
“He left behind a baby that he never met,” Blackwell says. “It’s climbing those stairs and seeing those names. It’s the realization that those guys never went home to their families. It’s very emotional.”
Blackwell—along with members of the Paducah Fire Department and other area fire departments—normally participate in the Nashville 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb inside the William R. Snodgrass Tennessee Tower, but they could not participate this year because of the pandemic. Instead, firefighters from nine Western Kentucky units gathered on the banks overlooking Barkley Dam on September 12th to participate in the first Barkley Dam 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb, organized by the Grand Lakes Fire Department. Participating departments included Grand Lakes, Paducah, Reidland-Farley, Possum Trot-Sharpe, Kuttawa, Eddyville, Gilbertsville, East Marshall, and the Marshall County Rescue Squad.
With their firefighter gear and equipment that added an extra 75 pounds, the firefighters went up and down the steps at Barkley Dam 18 times to commemorate the 110-flight climb of the firefighters who responded to the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. On a partly sunny day that started off cool and cloudy and gradually became hotter and more humid, the local firefighters descended to the bottom of the stairs, where the water lapped the shore, and then back up. The added heat and humidity caused them to stop several times for water, cool washrags, and rest, but it fueled their desire to persevere through the elements to honor the 343 firefighters who died on 9/11.
When the firefighters climb in Nashville, they are inside a building, and no spectators are allowed. The Barkley Dam climb allowed families and community members to watch and cheer. Several of the spouses and family members even joined the firefighters for a few flights, which is something that they can’t do at the Nashville tower.
Brittany King beamed with pride when her husband, Cary King, a first-year firefighter with the Paducah Fire Department, picked up the gear of another firefighter when he struggled in the heat.
“Seeing this is very humbling,” she says. “It gives you goosebumps and chills watching them to know what these firefighters went through on 9/11.”
Rhonda Adamson, a new member of the Possum Trot-Sharpe Fire Department, joined her father, Dale Totten, with the Grand Lakes Fire Department, on his final lap. Totten carried the American flag on the final lap as members of his squad fell in behind him, and then Adamson and members of the Possum Trot-Sharpe department followed, even though they had already completed their trip.
“I think it helps us to be more of a team together,” she says.
Her children manned the tent at the top of the stairwell to keep count of the flights. “I hope my kids will follow in my footsteps,” she says.
Totten, who joined the fire department about six years ago after retiring, trains every Saturday morning with his daughter on the steps of Barkley Dam. Their connection and dedication to their fire departments shines through as they talk about what it means to participate in the memorial.
Totten, who has participated in the Nashville climb, says he climbs for Ruban D. Correa, a former Marine and father of three who died on 9/11.
“That last round, he was on my mind,” Totten says. “When climbing and I start to struggle, I think about what they did that day. Our job is to finish for our fallen.”
Totten took a slight break at the landing between the stairs and then jogged victoriously up the last section to cheers from onlookers and fellow firefighters.
Throughout the morning, the names of the 343 fallen New York firefighters were read, and as each local unit finished the climb, they rang the bell in a solemn salute before they packed up and headed home.
Many of the local firefighters carried an identification tag to honor one of the fallen New York firefighters. They know their names. They now know their faces. They know their stories. They carry those stories with them in their hearts, as well as around their necks.
Those stories will continue to live on through the steps of these firefighters next year for the 20th anniversary.
