ST. LEO – Stephen Spelman remembers grabbing what gear he could find, heading to his duty station and then toward the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001.
“We could see people jumping from the building, and we weren’t even close [yet],” said Spelman, a retired New York Fire Department emergency medical technician. “We could see the towers engulfed in flames about midway up.”
Spelman was teaching at the fire academy when the first terrorist struck. A FDNY 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. Spelman credits the lieutenant for saving his life.
“I wasn’t prepared for what I saw,” Spelman said of that day. “It was the horror of war. I’m not military, but it seemed like a battlefield.”
Now living in Wesley Chapel, Spelman has made it his mission to remember, taking a rung from Ladder 18
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 joined others in sharing their Sept. 11 experiences during “In their Honor: September 11, 2001 & Operation Enduring Freedom – Never Forget” on Sept. 8 at Saint Leo University.
The university hosted the event to remember the courage and sacrifices of those who were lost, survived and rescued as well as those who searched for victims and fought for their nation.
Dominick Maggiori, a retired New York Fire Department/EMS lieutenant, recalled 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.”
As a Green Beret, Perry 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,” said Blackburn, now a retired lieutenant colonel with the U.S. Army Special Forces.
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.”
Craig 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 a noncommissioned officer.
“He was cut from a different cloth,” his dad said. “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.”
It was fitting that Saint Leo University hosted the event, noted President Jim Burkee 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 Sept. 11, 2001.
“Memory fades if it is not told,” said Wilton Simpson, Florida commissioner of agriculture and consumer services.
Saint Leo’s event included a fundraising breakfast, a flyover with parachutists, guest speakers at a special memorial event and a 5K.
The In Their Honor 5K kicked off the events at 7:30 a.m. Sept. 8 and the route through Saint Leo’s campus featured more than 300 photos of firefighters who lost their lives on Sept. 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.
Funds raised support the following nonprofits: 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.
Sponsors for the event were the Town of St. Leo, Chick-fil-A Zephyrhills, Totally Blu Pools, and Campus Gear and Trade Mark Sales.
