Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Richard Stowell | Spc. Timothy Keaveny, a pay analyst with the 4th Finance Management Support...... read more read more
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KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Soldiers from the New York National Guard have conducted a series of runs in honor of New York first responders who put themselves in harm’s way that morning 13 years ago.
“We are running to show that we are here to represent New York City, to show all of Kandahar and all of the Army that we are a great city and that we are proud of where we come from,” said Spc. Oscar Chicaiza, a cashier from Brooklyn.
Chicaiza was only six years old when the Twin Towers fell, but he recalls it being traumatic. He said those events helped inspire him to join the National Guard nine years later.
He is one of 20 or so Soldiers with the 4th Financial Management Support Detachment, from Whitestone, New York, serving at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. They represent the city that took the brunt of the opening attacks in the War on Terror, as well as the final rotation of the international response, Operation Enduring Freedom.
“Here on Kandahar (Airfield) they do a weekly 5K run; we wanted to remember the events of 9/11 and being from New York, our connection to it,” said Capt. Andrew King, commander of the 4th Finance Management Detachment, New York National Guard.
He and one of his noncommissioned officers, Sgt. Daniel London, began earlier this summer to plan a base-wide 9/11 memorial 5K for all comers to honor Service members from the International Security Assistance Force who have died in Afghanistan since the operation began in 2001. But the New Yorkers also wanted to run specifically for those who were affected by the attacks in their native state.
“We lost a lot of heroes that day, thousands of people in those towers, and we can’t forget about the Pentagon and the other flights,” said London, a dispersing analyst from Brooklyn. “This helps us remember what we are out here for.”
London and the other members of his unit, along with several Soldiers from the 133rd Quartermaster Co. based in Brooklyn, New York, have gathered for several mornings outside their housing units before the sun slipped above the eastern horizon. Standing out among the other Soldiers scattered about the roads of Kandahar Airfield, the New Yorkers wear shirts emblazoned with FDNY, NYPD and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as they run for their hometown.
“We wanted to represent New York,” said Sgt. Rovin Seosankar, a military pay analyst from Queens. “The (KAF) 9/11 run represents all of the fallen heroes in Iraq and Afghanistan, but we wanted to represent the fallen heroes in New York. We had a lot of civilians, police officers, EMTs, first responders who answered the call of duty,” he said.
In all, they have run three separate times, once for each of the major agencies whose members put their lives on the line to help the victims of the attack on the twin towers. The New York Department of Corrections also donated and sent them shirts, and the Soldiers will run for that agency on the morning of Sept. 11.
Seosankar has family members in the Port Authority Police, and said he will be thinking of them as he runs.
“We take a lot of pride in running,” he said.
Running has become a way for Americans to honor the fallen, and to remind others to not forget their sacrifices. A group called Run for the Fallen began in the summer of 2008 and ran across the United States—one mile for every American service member killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Travis Manion Foundation, named for a Marine killed in Iraq in 2007, sponsors a 9/11 Heroes Run that is held in dozens of cities worldwide during the first weeks of September. Wear Blue: Run to Remember is a similar organization that sponsors runs to help the survivors of those killed in America’s wars to heal. It was started by the widow of a U.S. Army captain killed in southern Afghanistan in 2009.
“Running is a way to show determination,” said London.
“When I am running I will be thinking about not only those that were lost, but about home,” said Spc. Timothy Keaveny, a pay analyst from Harlem. “Getting back to my family, my fiancé, and everyone that helped me out and everyone I got a chance to help out. That’s my motivation.”
The 9/11 Memorial run began with an effort to continue the Wear Blue: Run to Remember tradition on KAF. The New York Guardsmen partnered with an Air Force master sergeant to plan the base-wide memorial run.
Beginning the night of Sept. 10 and continuing to the morning of the 11th, hundreds of runners at KAF will log miles for every coalition service member killed in OEF.
“But we wanted to bring the 9/11 specific piece with our connection to New York, so we reached out to (the civilian) agencies,” added King, who lives in Manhattan.
That’s why the New York National Guard Soldiers do the runs, King said. It’s a small token that he hopes will make a big difference.
“We put aside a couple of hours to plan and remember these guys. But really the families live it every day. It’s more than just the day of 9/11; their lives have been changed forever. So it’s the little bit that we can do to show them that they’ll never be forgotten,”
As they finish their mission in the final phase of OEF, they hope that it will help others remember.
“9/11 affected everyone. Not only the United States but every nation,” said Keaveny. “I am proud to take part of it, whether it’s a run, a deployment or sitting back at home writing a letter to someone overseas. I think any little effort is worthwhile.”
| Date Taken: | 09.09.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 09.09.2014 12:58 |
| Story ID: | 141573 |
| Location: | KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AF |
| Hometown: | BROOKLYN, NY, US |
| Hometown: | HARLEM, NY, US |
| Hometown: | MANHATTAN, NY, US |
| Hometown: | QUEENS/NEW YORK, NY, US |
| Hometown: | WHITESTONE, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 627 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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