A moment to pause, remember
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on September 11, 2015 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Danny Johnson rings a bell to mark the minute 14 years ago today when a plane struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center during the 9/11 tribute in Moffatt Auditorium at Wayne Community College this morning.
David Cuddeback calls 9/11 the "New Year's Day" of public safety.
It is a day of infamy for those in law enforcement, he said at this morning's tribute ceremony marking the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the U.S. in 2001.
Beverly Deans, division head of the public safety program at Wayne Community College, said Cuddeback approached her last year about commemorating the occasion, challenging students in the Basic Law Enforcement program to climb 78 flights of stairs in full gear in honor of those first responders lost on 9/11.
A lead instructor in the program, Cuddeback recalled the way the event unified the country 14 years ago, with bumper stickers proclaiming the message, "Never Forget."
That has gradually faded, though, with fewer people talking about it as the years have passed, he said.
"On Sept. 10 every year, I don't sleep. I stay up all night," he said. "And I think and I read and I pray."
But as someone in the profession, he does not want a cup of coffee. He doesn't want a breakfast or lunch in his honor. He doesn't even want a pat on the back.
What he wanted was to "load up with a ton of weight" on his back and climb flights of stairs on campus in honor of those brothers and sisters who did it on 9/11.
"That's when I get in touch with all these people. That's when I get close to them," he told an audience in Moffatt Auditorium at WCC this morning. "Every one of these people, they had that gut check. They knew what they were doing. There was no question of what they were doing.
"But they did it anyway. That's what today is all about."
His own life was forever changed during a 45-second clip on the History Channel, he said. The two people who changed his life were the fire chief and fire marshal who loaded up with close to 100 pounds of equipment and led a team of firefighters to the 78th floor of the South Tower, the floor one of the planes had struck.
"Most of them realized, 'I ain't coming home,'" Cuddeback said.
A few years ago, while working with some rookies, the idea sprung up to collectively run the 78 flights of stairs, a tradition he has continued. Last year was the first doing it at WCC, but it will not be the last, he said.
"We're going to do it every year, and sometime my 6-year-old son Gavin is going to do the same thing, he's going to do it with me, and my 8-year-old daughter Avery, she's going to do it with me," he said. "When they have kids, their kids are going to do it with them. And their kids' kids are going to do it with them.
"We're going to do this forever, because the faded bumper sticker of 'Never Forget' is not acceptable. When we say we will never forget, ladies and gentleman, we truly need to mean we will never forget."