Carthage firefighters hold annual 9/11 walk
“When events like 9/11 take place, it’s personal for a lot of people — it really hits home with them.”
TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - Firefighters, first responders, Panola College students and city officials all gathered in front of the Panola courthouse to begin their annual two-mile walk to Bulldog Stadium.
“Being in the fire service for nearly 25 years, this was a very small thing that we could do to try and keep those people’s memory alive that lost their lives that day,” said Carthage Fire Marshal Randy Liedtke.
The firefighters and community members all wore lanyards with the name and age of a first responder who died during the 9/11 attack. As they arrived at Bulldog Stadium, they each rang a bell and placed their lanyards down.
Next, the community took 412 steps together to honor the 412 first responders who lost their lives while on duty during the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York.
“When events like 9/11 take place, it’s personal for a lot of people — it really hits home with them,” said David Britt, a firefighter and the president of the inter-community volunteer fire department in Panola County. “I think that’s why a lot of these guys are out here now: they’re doing it, not for themselves, just as a way of remembering family loved ones who died on that day.”
Britt said there are some firefighters in their early twenties who are unaware of what happened that day, but many others will never forget.
“Some of us do remember that day. We all remember where we were at and what we were doing,” Britt said. “The way everybody came together after that — there wasn’t a division among people like there is now. We don’t want it to take things like that to bring us together. We just want to come together of our own free-will for events to get along with our fellow Americans, have fun,” said Britt.
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