9-11 Tribute

Today I had the honor of wearing Firefighter Gregory T. Saucedo's name on my turnout jacket as I climbed 110 stories with 342 other firefighters (343 FDNY firefighters were killed on 9/11). We were at the Renaissance Tower in downtown Sacramento for the memorial climb. Here is a little about Firefighter Saucedo...

The 31 year old firefighter was born in 1961 in Old Mill, Brooklyn. He started his life in the pursuit of being a teacher and eventually achieved a bachelor's degree from Brooklyn College in Education. Then, with a change of heart he decided to switch career paths. He entered the fire academy with three of his closest childhood friends and quickly excelled. After the academy, at the age of twenty, he was offered a job with Engine Company 321 in Brooklyn where he worked for seven consecutive years. In 1998 Saucedo transferred from Company 321 to Ladder Company 5 in the heart of Greenwich Village. It was with this group of men that he was last seen bounding up stairs towards muffled screams of civilians. Witnesses state that they saw Saucedo make it all the way up to the 40th story of the World Trade Center's second building and pull down a civilian in a wheelchair. Then minutes before the second plane hit he rushed up the stairs again in the pursuit of saving more lives. He will forever be honored and missed.

-Jon