YPG hosts 9/11 Walk, Run or Ruck event

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) - Yuma Proving Ground held a memorial event honoring the lives lost during the September 11 attacks.

Participants gathered for the 9/11 Walk, Run or Ruck to remember the nearly 3,000 people who died and the first responders who risked their lives to help others.

Specialist Nicholas Venus, a participant in the event, said the courage of first responders continues to inspire him.

“The first responder in particular that climbed, knowing that that could be it for them, and still went anyways, that’s true courage,” Venus said.

For Yuma Proving Ground Commander Colonel Charles Seaberry, the events of 9/11 also played a role in his decision to serve in the military.

“I was commissioned in December and in September 9/11 happened, so just a short few months after that it was definitely my ability to answer the calling,” Seaberry said.

Seaberry said the annual event brings people together to remember the unity seen across the country after the attacks.

“It was very shortly after that where we came together and started working as a community,” Seaberry said. “The ability to have a day where we are able to remember together is very important.”

Twenty five years later, events like the one at Yuma Proving Ground continue to honor those who lost their lives and remind communities of the courage and unity that followed one of the darkest days in American history.