CORPUS CHRISTI, TX — The Refinery Terminal Fire Company brought first responders and community members together Friday morning for its annual 9/11 Memorial Walk, marking 25 years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Participants walked 5.65 miles along Shoreline Boulevard, the equivalent of 9.11 kilometers, in remembrance of the first responders who lost their lives that day.
The walk began at 8:03 a.m., marking the time the second plane struck the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
Among those taking part was Corpus Christi firefighter Adriana Cano, who completed the walk in her full firefighting gear.
“It hurts, but you think about the fact that they did it no matter what,” Cano said. “They didn't have a choice to stop. And that just gives you the mentality of, you need to keep going no matter what.”
Cano knows firsthand how physically demanding a memorial like this can be. But for her, pushing through the discomfort is part of paying tribute to the firefighters and other first responders who continued working amid the devastation on Sept. 11.
Her connection to the local walk goes back years. Cano previously spent eight years with the Refinery Terminal Fire Company before joining the Corpus Christi Fire Department. She helped start the local tradition after taking part in a 9/11 memorial stair climb in San Antonio.
Cano was also 15 years old when the attacks happened. As the years have passed, she said events like the memorial walk have taken on another purpose: making sure the story of Sept. 11 continues to be passed down to people who did not experience it themselves.
“We're in a generation now where most people that are alive now, they weren't alive when it happened,” Cano said. “So it's important for all of us to do it.”
For the first responders participating Friday, the walk was not only about remembering those who died, but also recognizing the ordinary lives they left behind.
Cano said Sept. 11 is a reminder that many of the people who died that day began their mornings expecting to return home to their families just like any other day.
“Say I love you to your family. Anything can happen on any given day,” Cano said. “These people went to work and went to school and did their job like any other day, not knowing they weren't gonna come home.”
Twenty-five years later, the 9.11-kilometer journey along Shoreline Boulevard continues to give local first responders and community members a way to remember those who never made it home and honor those who ran toward danger to help others.
