They represented a cross-section of America — thousands of men, women and children of all ages, races and backgrounds from every corner of the country — and came together yesterday during the second annual America Supports You Freedom Walk here to pay tribute to those killed on Sept. 11, 2001.
For those hours from when they first assembled on the National Mall until they concluded their two-mile Freedom Walk at a grandstand near the Pentagon crash site, the participants shared a common focus and sense of commitment.
“Each has their own reason for being here, but they have all joined together at a crucial time for our country,” said Joyce Rumsfeld, wife of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, as she greeted participants in the Pentagon parking lot.
“They stand for everything I believe in about this great country,” she said. “It’s inspiring, and it’s gratifying to see them.”
Before staring the walk, participants waved flags and cheered to the sounds of Lee Greenwood’s “Proud to Be an American” and applauded Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace’s vow that terrorists won’t succeed — “not on our watch.”
“This is important because on Sept. 11, the president said we will never forget, and it’s important that we never forget,” Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England said before beginning the Freedom Walk. “This is about America remembering — not just those killed that day, but the families and heroes who have sacrificed during all the days since Sept. 11.”
“It’s important for us as a nation, because we stand as one against forces that would take away all the things that are important in our lives,” said the Pentagon Chaplain, Army Col. William, Brooke, who read the 23rd Psalm and led a moment of silence and prayer before the walk began.
Pace and England led the Freedom Walk participants past the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials before skirting Arlington National Cemetery, washed in the pink light of sunset. As the procession moved toward the Pentagon, gasps arose from the crowd when they caught their first glimpses of a huge, lighted American flag hanging from the side of the building — reminiscent of the flag hung hours after the Sept. 11 attack.
As they walked, some of the participants, including hundreds of family members, remembered loved ones, friends and coworkers lost on Sept. 11.
Army Spc. Cindy Davis, assigned to Headquarters Company, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, was remembering two uncles, both firefighters, who were killed in the World Trade Center.
A group of schoolchildren from Washington’s Ketcham Elementary School carried a sign as they walked honoring a teacher James Debeuneure and fellow student Rodney Dickens, who were on American Airlines Flight 77 when it crashed into the Pentagon.
“We want to keep their memories alive, and by joining this walk, we’re doing something symbolic that will be forever implanted on their minds so they’re able to share their experience,” said school Principal Joyce Grimes.
Len Bourget, a longtime Department of Veterans Affairs employee, walked to remember several people he knew who were killed in the Pentagon. “It’s a way to remember in a positive way — not just those who were lost, but also those who survived and are still overcoming the tragedy,” he said.
As she walked across Memorial Bridge from Washington, D.C., into Virginia, Davis said it’s equally important to remember those who have sacrificed since Sept. 11, including her fiance, retired Army Sgt. Sean Lewis. Lewis lost his lost his leg in January 2004 in Baqubah, Iraq, while serving with the 4th Infantry Division, but wasn’t about to let a prosthetic leg stop him from participating in the Freedo