Among the many activities going on in this area Sunday to mark the 15th anniversary of 9/11 was a motorcycle ride sponsored by the Laddermen Firefighter Motorcycle Club.
The Laddermen's club is a collection of current and retired Rochester firefighters, and they work every 9/11 anniversary to raise money for a local charity; this year, it was for Miracle Field in Webster, an athletic field being developed for people with physical and intellectual disabilities.
Clayton Eckerd is president of the group. Speaking to WXXI News near the Genesee Brew House, where the Sunday ride finished up, he said that incidents like the 9/11 attacks, and even those on a much smaller scale, remind firefighters how dangerous that job can be.
“It’s part of the job, it really is, some days it’s not that bad and other days you’re just wondering how you’re going to get through it, that’s just how it is.”
Eckerd says having the 9/11 anniversary fall on a weekend made it easier to hold the charity motorcycle ride.
“Normally on 9/11 it’s a quiet time for us, remembrance and stuff like that; it’s just fortunate that it fell on a Sunday too, so not only can we remember our fallen brothers, we can also have charity for a good cause.”
Eckerd says even though most of the Rochester firefighters did not have a direct connection to the firefighters who died in the 9/11 attacks, their colleagues across the country feel a connection to their pain.
