{"id":220324,"date":"2025-09-12T07:48:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T07:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/220324\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T07:48:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T07:48:15","slug":"photos-community-climbs-steps-of-valor-honors-9-11-first-responders-multimedia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/220324\/","title":{"rendered":"Photos: Community climbs Steps of Valor, honors 9\/11 first responders | Multimedia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/p>\n

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Mechanical engineering freshman Noah Vo jogs up stairs during the second annual Steps of Valor on Sept. 11 at Maverick Stadium. Wristbands and shirts commemorating 9\/11 were available at the event.<\/p>\n

Photo by Elvis Martinez-Cartagena <\/a><\/p>\n

The thud of sneakers against metal bleachers echoed through Maverick Stadium as rows of students, police officers and community members moved in unison.<\/p>\n

Sweat poured, hands pressed against railings and breaths quickened, but step-by-step, participants climbed 110 stories, a tribute to the first responders who scaled the towers of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.<\/p>\n

The explosion of a Carlisle Cannon kicked off the second annual Steps of Valor event, hosted by Kappa Sigma. Maverick Stadium transformed into a living memorial as participants retraced the sacrifice of firefighters and officers who ascended into chaos 24 years ago. <\/p>\n

\u201cHonoring our first responders, it’s always been a passion for me,\u201d event organizer Brandon Spears said.<\/p>\n

Spears said there are people who were not alive when 9\/11 happened, so it\u2019s special to have an event that honors first responders.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t ever want what happened to get lost to history,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cImagine you\u2019re a firefighter with the smoke, the chaos, the debris, the people running, the screaming, you\u2019ve got 100 pounds of gear on, and you\u2019re going up 2,000 flights of stairs to not know whether you\u2019re going to make it out of there alive,\u201d Spears said.<\/p>\n

For UTA Police officer Robert Bresser, the event carried an emotional impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have the radio traffic from the event in the staircase, so you hear it and you sweat out there, so it\u2019s emotional,\u201d Bresser said. <\/p>\n

For fraternity members, the climb represented a test of endurance, brotherhood and dedication.<\/p>\n

Kappa Sigma member Joaquin Evaro shared a story of his father, who was in Canada at the time of the attack, seeing Air Force One in the air. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt definitely touched everybody in the country,\u201d Evaro said. <\/p>\n

Participants motivated one another at the top of the stairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of brotherhood. I mean, I don\u2019t know if y\u2019all can hear it, but we were all cheering each other on, cheering police officers on, so it brings us together,” he said. <\/p>\n

Kappa Sigma president Thaddeus Shearin said he hopes the event will become a citywide tradition. Since its start in 2024, Steps of Valor has already grown in size, drawing sponsors and new participants. <\/p>\n

As the final climbers reached the top of the stadium, exhausted but smiling, a quiet sense of unity settled over the stands. For a moment, the weight of history was shared, carried together, one step at a time. <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

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Finance sophomore Ashton Davenport rests at the bottom of the stairs during the second annual Steps of Valor on Sept. 11 at Maverick Stadium. The event was organized by the Kappa Sigma fraternity.<\/p>\n

Photo by Elvis Martinez-Cartagena <\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

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Nursing junior Terrence Durham holds a cold water bottle against his neck during the second annual Steps of Valor on Sept. 11 at Maverick Stadium. After completing the event, Durham said that the pain was worth it in the end.<\/p>\n

Photo by Elvis Martinez-Cartagena <\/a><\/p>\n

\"Feet<\/p>\n

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Finance and psychology senior Lino Gandara\u2019s shoes climb steps during the second annual Steps of Valor on Sept. 11 at Maverick Stadium. Gandara said that he participated to pay respects to the lives of first responders and the families who were affected.<\/p>\n

Photo by Elvis Martinez-Cartagena <\/a><\/p>\n

\"Uniformed<\/p>\n

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Arlington police officers climb the stairs during the second annual Steps of Valor on Sept. 11 at Maverick Stadium. The event donated money to the Military Heroes Campaign and the Arlington Professional Fire Fighters Charitable Fund.<\/p>\n

Photo by Elvis Martinez-Cartagena <\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

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Business management sophomore Kason Ohearn goes down the stairs during the second annual Steps of Valor on Sept. 11 at Maverick Stadium. After finishing the event, Ohearn said that feeling just a fraction of what the first responders felt on 9\/11 was his biggest takeaway.<\/p>\n

Photo by Elvis Martinez-Cartagena <\/a><\/p>\n

\"Men<\/p>\n

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A Carlisle Cannon unleashes a ceremonial shot during the second annual Steps of Valor on Sept. 11 at Maverick Stadium. The cannons are only shot on special occasions.<\/p>\n

Photo by Elvis Martinez-Cartagena <\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

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Thaddeus Shearin, business management junior and Kappa Sigma president, rests after finishing his climb during the second annual Steps of Valor on Sept. 11 at Maverick Stadium. Shearin said that he hopes this event continues growing.<\/p>\n

Photo by Elvis Martinez-Cartagena <\/a><\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

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Accounting freshman Colton Mack ascends the stairs while junior Rafan Haider descends during the second annual Steps of Valor on Sept. 11 at Maverick Stadium. The event aimed to honor heroes through service, remembrance and community support.<\/p>\n

Photo by Elvis Martinez-Cartagena <\/a><\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

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Marketing junior Austin Mathews places his hand on economics junior Joaquin Evaro upon reaching the top of the stairs during the second annual Steps of Valor on Sept. 11 at Maverick Stadium. Mathews said he participated in the event for his grandfather, a World War II veteran, who passed a while ago.<\/p>\n

Photo by Elvis Martinez-Cartagena <\/a><\/p>\n

\"Sweat<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Arlington police officer Robert Bresser, 46, drips sweat while climbing stairs during the second annual Steps of Valor on Sept. 11 at Maverick Stadium. Bresser said it\u2019s great that Kappa Sigma created an event that benefits fallen officers and firefighters.<\/p>\n

Photo by Elvis Martinez-Cartagena <\/a><\/p>\n

@greycoloredglass<\/p>\n

photo-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mechanical engineering freshman Noah Vo jogs up stairs during the second annual Steps of Valor on Sept. 11…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":220325,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,7371,7372,2136,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-220324","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-fort-worth","10":"tag-fortworth","11":"tag-photos","12":"tag-texas","13":"tag-tx","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115190229869660331","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}