Saint Leo ‘Never Forgets’ as It Partners with Area Organizations to Remember 9/11
University’s memorial event honors first responders and those lost on 9/11 as well as during Operation Enduring Freedom
Those who lost their lives or were injured in the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, as well as the many acts of heroism on that day and in the months that followed, were recognized during a special event hosted by Saint Leo University today (Monday, September 8).
The university presented In their Honor: September 11, 2001 & Operation Enduring Freedom – Never Forget for the community, area first responders, veterans, students, faculty, and staff to come together to remember the courage and sacrifices of those who were lost, survived, rescued, searched for victims, and fought for their nation.
Saint Leo’s event included a fundraising 5K, breakfast, a flyover with parachutists, guest speakers at a special memorial event, and more.
It was fitting that Saint Leo University host the event, noted Dr. Jim Burkee, the university’s new president, as Saint Leo provides a space for reflection and promotes dialogue, mutual respect, and understanding so that all may remember and learn from the history of September 11, 2001.
“Memory fades if it is not told,” said Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Wilton Simpson. Thus, the history of September 11 and its heroes must be shared and told.
Helping keep that memory alive were Dominick Maggiori, retired New York Fire Department/EMS lieutenant, and Stephen Spelman, retired NYFD emergency medical technician and a founder of the memorial event that features a ladder rung from Ladder 18.
Maggiori shared his 9/11 story and of working “on the pile” – the rubble of the World Trade Center towers. “We heard a jet, and the work stopped,” he said. “Then we saw it was a [U.S.] fighter jet and there was a sigh of relief. Somebody has got our back.”
And it was more than just the U.S. military. “People came from all over,” Maggiori said, bringing water, food, and volunteering in any way they could to assist those involved in rescue and recovery. “Everyone pulled together.”
For Spelman, the event at Saint Leo as well as the memorial featuring the piece of the ladder truck is about carrying on the legacy – the legacy of those lost, of those who battle cancer and other illnesses from their time working in the dust and debris, and those who suffer mental anguish, alcoholism, and drug addiction following that horrific day.
“I wasn’t prepared for what I saw,” Spelman said. “It was the horror of war. I’m not military, but it seemed like a battlefield.”
He was teaching at the NY fire academy when the first terrorist struck, grabbed what gear he could find, headed to his duty station, and then toward the towers, going the wrong way on the street.
“We could see people jumping from the building, and we weren’t even close [yet],” he said. “We could see the towers engulfed in flames about midway up.”
A NYFD lieutenant sent him and his team to look inside police and other vehicles parked nearby to see if anyone was alive. The lieutenant ran the opposite direction toward the towers. “I’m alive,” Spelman said. “He saved my life.”
Now living in Wesley Chapel, Spelman has made it his mission to remember, taking the ladder piece and speaking to groups so the history and sacrifices are not forgotten. The memorial now is on loan and can be viewed at the Zephyrhills Museum of Military History. Spelman is joined in sharing their histories of September 11 by his fellow speakers from the Saint Leo events, Maggiori and Perry Blackburn, retired lieutenant colonel with the U.S. Army Special Forces, and Craig Gross, a Gold Star father.
As a Green Beret, Blackburn was one of the first Americans on the ground in Afghanistan after 9/11. “I was the leader of the greatest fighting force on the ground,” he told the audience at Saint Leo.
They rode on horseback with Afghans, “hunting those responsible, and I was proud be help to defeat the Taliban and Al-Qaida,” he said. “The American soldier is not an individual. 9/11 brought out the best in all Americans. We stood together. We prayed together. That’s the part I carry with me every day. Show up for one another.”
Gross, an Air Force veteran, shared the story of his Army corporal son, Frank “Frankie” Robert Gross, who was killed on July 16, 2011, in Afghanistan when the Humvee he was in struck an improvised explosive device.
The late Gross joined the Army after earning a master’s degree, but rather than going in as a second lieutenant, he “signed up as an NCO [noncommissioned officer],” his dad said. “He was cut from a different cloth. He didn’t take the easy way.”
Just 21 days after telling his father he was being deployed to Afghanistan, Cpl. Gross was killed. “He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery with many, many other great heroes,” Gross said of his son. “You’re looking at one of the proudest dads in America. My son continues to give. My son represents something that only Americans possess, and that is true freedom.”
Never Forget
The In Their Honor 5K kicked off the events at 7:30 a.m. today (September 8) and the route through Saint Leo’s campus featured more than 300 photos of firefighters who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. Funds raised through the event will support the sponsoring organizations and charities, including the creation of the Children of Heroes Scholarship at Saint Leo University. Representing the shared mission between the Pasco Patriots Association and Saint Leo University, this fund will provide tuition assistance for first responders and the children of fallen and catastrophically injured first responders. Tom DeLuca, executive director of the Pasco Patriots Association and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, served as the emcee for the memorial program.
Coming across the 5K finish line first was Kevin Perez, a University of South Florida student and a member of the Suncoast Battalion of Army ROTC. Right behind him was Austin Curtis, also a USF student and ROTC member.
All eyes were on the sky following the 5K as parachutists Rian Kanouff, Keith Hanley, and Patrick Fortune of Fortune’s Flags in the Air and Skydive First Project, glided to the ground with Fortune carrying a billowing U.S. flag.
Bagpipers Gemma Riggs and Thomas Fritz played as everyone entered Saint Leo’s Wellness Center for the memorial program, which featured a prayer by Mike D’Ambrosio, mayor of the town of St. Leo, and the national anthem performed by Marlee Michael.
Sponsors
The sponsors for the event were the town of St. Leo, Chick-fil-A Zephyrhills, Totally Blu Pools, and Campus Gear and Trade Mark Sales.
Beneficiaries
Funds raised support the following nonprofit organizations: Saint Leo University – Scholarship, Pasco Patriots Association, 18 Series Coffee Co., AFG Free, Cryoeeze22, Krewe De Forti, PCRetiredK-9 (Pasco County Retired K9), Tunnel to Towers Foundation, and Warrior Wellness.