SCRANTON, Pa. — The American flag was raised high inside the Planet Fitness gym in Scranton on Nay Aug Road.
Earl Granville and his team of supporters paid tribute to 9/11 victims and survivors on the anniversary of the attacks by taking one step at a time on stair climbers for the second year in a row.
"They are the first casualties in the global war on terrorism, and let's not forget that those who paid that ultimate sacrifice that day and those who are still here," said Granville, Army Veteran.
Granville lost his left leg while serving in Afghanistan. And while his career of serving on the front lines came to an end, his passion for serving those back home never stopped.
"I look at those first responders on 9/11; I'm sure going into a tower from terrorist attacks with the possibility of not coming out is not in their training manual, but like good citizens do, they did the right thing and made the ultimate sacrifice," Granville said.
With this in mind, Granville climbs 110 flights of stairs in full fireman's gear.
That is the same number of flights firefighters, and other first responders climbed at the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001.
Granville's supporters are made up of members of the Steamtown Heros Guard.
Jen Adams, the owner of the non-profit, stuck with Granville the entire climb offering water and encouragement along the way.
"Our organization is you're never gonna do something alone, no matter what the work out is, you're never gonna finish alone. Last year we did it at a gym we set upstairs, and we did all these steps in gear, and then Earl said he was coming here to do it today, so I wouldn't miss it," said Adams, Founder of Steamtown Hero Guard.
And with this support system by his side and lots of bottled water, Granville continued his climb to pay tribute one step at a time.
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