East Lyme ― A fog settled over the Niantic River on Monday morning as police recruits gathered in the parking lot of Cini Memorial Park for a six-mile ruck march through the town.

Saddled with 30-pound backpacks and joined by other members of local law enforcement and public safety agencies, the 13 Eastern Regional Police Academy recruits set off on the march carrying weighted tubes through downtown Niantic and East Lyme.

The march was coordinated by Sgt. Eric Kortewe of the Groton Town Police Department. He is the lead physical training instructor for the Eastern Regional Police Academy – Session #2.

The recruits chose to raise and donate proceeds to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation as part of the event. Tunnel to Towers was founded in tribute to New York Fire Department firefighter Stephen Siller, who was killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center.

According to the organization, Siller, assigned to Brooklyn’s Squad 1, had just finished his shift when he heard a plane had struck the north tower of the trade center. He drove to the entrance of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, which had been closed for security purposes.

“Determined to carry out his duty, he strapped 60 pounds of gear to his back, and raced on foot through the tunnel to the Twin Towers, where he gave up his life while saving others,” according to Tunnel to Towers.