Jackson walks together to honor lives lost on 9/11

FOX23 News at 9 p.m.

JACKSON, Mo., (KBSI) — First responders and community members walked through Jackson Friday morning to honor the nearly 3,000 people killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The annual Memorial Walk brought firefighters, law enforcement officers and other emergency personnel together before ending at Jackson’s 9/11 memorial.

Jackson Fire Chief Jason Mauser said some members of the department were serving when the attacks happened, while others had not yet been born.

“Those that are here that were here that day remember the events like it was yesterday,” Mauser said. “It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years.”

Mauser said he reflected before the walk on the people who started Sept. 11 by going to work, boarding a flight or following their normal routines, expecting to return home that evening.

“This is just a small token, and we can honor those that lost their lives,” Mauser said.

Among those killed were 343 firefighters. Mauser said the scale of that loss can be difficult to comprehend for Jackson Fire Rescue, which has 22 members.

“Coming from a small department of 22, 343 is a number that’s hard to possibly grasp,” Mauser said.

Robert Greif, a captain and training officer with Jackson Fire Rescue, joined the department in 2001. He said he has attended a Sept. 11 memorial event every year since the first anniversary in 2002, including a memorial stair climb in Nashville.

Greif, who has served in the fire service for 34 years, became emotional while describing the New York City firefighters who entered the World Trade Center knowing they might not return.

“The members on the rescue trucks knew that day when they crossed that threshold, they would never come out,” Greif said. “They knew going in that that was their one-way ticket.”

Greif said the anniversary honors civilians and first responders while reminding people of the unity that followed the attacks.

“I remember for weeks after, I’d drive down the road in a fire truck going to calls, and people would be at lunch break standing by a flag,” Greif said. “The flag is our symbol of our country, but truly, the people are the symbol of our country.”

The walk ended at Jackson’s 9/11 memorial. Mauser said firefighters first proposed the monument and community members and local businesses provided about 95% of its funding.

Mauser said the memorial and annual walk show Jackson’s continued commitment to honoring those killed, along with those who continue to suffer health effects connected to the attacks.

“Reflecting on the events of this day just brings everybody closer together,” Mauser said. “I think that’s what’s important.”