NEVADA, Iowa — Firefighter Tony Collins Jr. geared up on Friday like he has many times before.
But this time it was different.
"It's pretty important just to kind of replicate what they did that day," Collins Jr. said.
More than 100 first responders, law enforcement officers, and servicemen and women gathered to honor the more than 300 firefighters who lost their lives in New York on 9/11.
"[You] can't even put it in a magnitude that people can understand, and that's the importance of this climb and the 20th anniversary," said Nevada Fire Department Chief Ray Reynolds, who helped get the event going three years ago.
Six trips up to the top of the tower at the Verbio facility in Nevada adds up to about the height of one of the Twin Towers.
In the background, New York first responders could be heard as 20-year-old radio calls from ground zero were played over loudspeakers.
Along the way, climbers saw the faces of the firefighters who died that day.
Tony Collins Sr., a firefighter himself, is proud of his son.
"My other son is a sheriff's deputy. It's an honor that they're called to public service," said Collins Sr.
This event, now in its third year, continues to grow.
"It's extremely humbling to see them do this climb. Again, it kind of goes back to their unselfish service to the community," said Greg Faith, President of Verbio Nevada.
For Collins Jr., it's a tradition he hopes his kids will get to be a part of one day too.
"He's actually going through EMT school, and he's hoping to follow in my footsteps as well, so that's pretty cool," he said.