9/11 Memorial Run/Walk and ceremony at Summit Park

The Blue Ash Fire Department and Firefighters Local 3203’s 9/11 Memorial Run and Walk on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, will begin with a touching remembrance ceremony at 8:00 a.m. at Summit Park, 4335 Glendale Milford Road. Included in the ceremony will be the Presentation of the Colors, Taps, and a 21-gun salute by the American Legion Post 630, an invocation from the Blue Ash Fire Chaplain, and additional tributes to the individuals who lost their lives in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

As you approach the colorful Summit Park Canopy on the morning of September 11, 2025, you will be greeted with tributes to the many individuals who lost their lives during the terrorist attacks 23 years ago. There will be 2,977 flags on the Great Lawn representing those who lost their lives, pieces of recovered steel from the World Trade Center, an American flag held up by the Blue Ash ladder truck, and a tunnel with the names of the 343 firefighters who died at ground zero.

The tunnel is in remembrance of New York Firefighter Stephen Siller. Siller heard the radio call for all Fire Department New York firefighters to report for duty after getting off his shift earlier that morning. Unable to return to the station, due to the closed Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, he got out of his personal truck and ran the two-and-a-half miles through the tunnel in his full firefighter’s uniform to the site of the Twin Towers. Stephen Siller was one of many firefighters whose remains were never recovered.

“Our annual event is a way for us to honor and remember those that lost their lives on 9/11,” said Blue Ash Lt. Scott Reed. “Due to ongoing construction on the Observation Tower, we pivoted from a stair climb to a run/walk this year as a tribute to Siller and his heroic acts.”

This run and walk will benefit the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. The Tunnel to Towers Foundation, created by Siller’s family, helps the families of critically injured and fallen first responders by providing mortgage-free homes.