Editor, Gazette-Journal:

I wish to share with you a special and stellar weekend. The Tunnel to Towers race was run in Manhattan on Sept. 29 to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 event. The course was 3.5 miles and followed the path run by Steven Siller, an off-duty fireman who, caught in tunnel traffic on the way home, grabbed his turnout gear and ran the 3.5 miles back to the towers carrying and wearing 75 pounds of gear. He perished in the Twin Towers.

The run followed his footsteps and was a hugely emotional and powerful experience. I did it with my daughter and 35,000 other runners. The "race" led out with the entire corps of cadets from West Point, approximately 2,500 strong, running in company formations with flags and pennants flying. The line was long and impressive, augmented by companies of Marines in Boots and Utes. They were followed by a group of severely wounded warriors, many running on blades or rolling wheelchairs. Some even had babies on their backs or being towed...