Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) cadets from the University of Wisconsin-Madison joined local law enforcement at Camp Randall Stadium early morning on Sept. 11 to honor rescue workers who responded in the wake of the terrorist attacks 25 years ago.
Students from every branch of ROTC — Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines — were invited by the UW-Madison Police Department (UWPD) to participate.
According to David Erickson, a senior cadet in ROTC Army, it is not common for the different branches to intersect. He said the experience was a way for them to build camaraderie and “remember we’re all on one team.”
The cadets gathered outside of Camp Randall at 6:30 a.m.
Physical challenges are a common way for law enforcement and various branches of rescue workers to memorialize the courage of the 441 first responders who lost their lives on 9/11.
UWPD Chief of Police Brent Plisch led the crowd of cadets, firefighters and lawmen. He emphasised the importance of remembering why they were there, reflecting on his time in the Army branch of ROTC at Madison and joining the Army service around the time 9/11 happened.
“He reminded us of the lives that were lost and the hard work first responders had to put in to help those who were in need,” Erickson said.
In the last part of his speech, Plisch had a fun surprise planned for the cadets.
“He promised our commander last year that he would wear an Air Force shirt,” Nicole Everson, a senior cadet in Air Force ROTC, said, “and then he took his jacket off, revealing it underneath. We all laughed.”
Following Plisch’s speech, the cadets spent the next hour running stairs, some with heavy rucksacks on.
“This was my first year doing [the climb] wearing a backpack, and it made me realise how much more difficult it is to do it wearing gear and equipment like all of the firefighters who were wearing probably upward of 50 pounds of gear [during the attacks],” Erickson said.
