It’s not unusual for a crowd of people wearing uniforms and protective gear to be on the field at Autzen Stadium in the fall.
But on this day, they aren’t wearing shoulder pads, jerseys, or football helmets.
Many are donning heavy fireproof suits and large air tanks, police uniforms or military fatigues and rucksacks.
They’re preparing to climb 2,226 steps up and down the stairs in Autzen. That’s the equivalent of the 110 floors that made up each of the twin towers of the World Trade Center.
The ceremony kicks off with music from Lane Fire Brigade Pipes and Drums and a ceremonial video with footage of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and their aftermath.
A color guard presents the U.S. and Oregon flags, and a variety of speakers then come to a stage in the stadium’s west end zone.
The first is Eugene Police Department Sergeant Matt Lowen, who offers an opening prayer. He was a member of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division on the day of the attacks.
“In that moment, my life, like so many of yours, dramatically changed,” he said. “And within 30 days I was in a country that I couldn’t have found on a map on September 10th.”
Beaverton Police Chief Stacy Jepson told the crowd that the public often does not understand the life of a first responder.
“But September 11 showed the entire world what service and sacrifice really look like,” she said. “That morning, first responders entered those towers knowing that people were trapped inside. Firefighters climbed flight after flight carrying hundreds of pounds of equipment. Police officers helped guide hundreds of people towards safety. And paramedics treated the injured knowing there were far more injured inside still.”
Jepson said bravery was on display that day.
“That is why you are here today,” she said. “We climb these stairs to represent the stairs they climbed 25 years ago. But we know this climb cannot come close to what they experienced. We do not face the smoke, the heat, the fire, the darkness, the fear or the uncertainty that they faced. Still, we climb to remember them.”
Eugene Springfield Fire Chief Mike Caven started by asking those who weren’t old enough to remember the attacks vividly to raise their hands. His estimate was that almost half of the crowd raised their hands.
“That’s an important number because you’re here with us helping keep the commitment to never forget. The slogan that carries with 9/11. But today is different because we all carry a small piece of this memory,” Caven said.
They would be carrying the memory of someone who died on Sept. 11, 2001, both symbolically and literally. Each responder who climbed the stairs wore a badge that included the name and photo of someone who died.
“Thomas Gambino Jr. is on mine,” Caven said. “You say their name as you do this climb. You make sure that their name is not forgotten, their face is not forgotten. You carry this with you. You climb for them, and when you climb for someone else next year, you add them to the collection of people who you remember and keep their memory alive.”
As the ceremony wraps up, those who will climb begin to assemble at a gate leading to the stadium stairs. Among them is Jerome Perryman.
The day is a somber homecoming for the Portland firefighter. He played for the Ducks here at Autzen from 1992 to 1996.
"It means a lot to be back,” he said. “For one, there’s a different meaning, there’s a different why."
Perryman was about two years into his firefighting career when the 9/11 attacks happened.
“It was just something that nobody could believe on any scale, let alone for firefighters and what we felt for all of those that passed,” he said. “And it made me wonder, what if that happened in Portland? What if that happened in our city? What if we were responding to something like that? What would we do and would we still be here? There’s just so many questions that were going through our heads at that time.”
He climbed the stairs at this ceremony two years ago on his own. But today, he’s accompanied by his family, including his 13-year-old son.
“For him to understand the magnitude of this memorial that’s taking place on our homefield, I want him to see that,” Perryman said. “In addition, my wife is over here getting ready to start the climb, so it’s special for us all to be together this time.”
Perryman wore his firefighting gear, save one item that’s a more familiar sight in Autzen: a gold and green helmet with the Oregon O on its sides and his number 96 on the back.
He said it means a lot to bring two parts of his life together in this way.
And, as he comes down the first flight of stairs and makes his way to the second, his hands make an O for the onlookers below.
