Intel Marines commemorate 9/11

Photo By Sgt. Wes Lucko | A Marine with 3rd Intelligence Battalion, III Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group, runs through a jungle trail Sept. 11 during an Endurance Course on Camp Hansen as part of a 9/11 commemorative training day. “If our Marines got only one thing out of today's event, it's that 9/11 fundamentally changed our world and that we must be prepared and ready for the hard challenges that still lay ahead,” said Lt. Col. Mike D. Reilly, a Houston, Texas, native and the commanding officer of 3rd Intel Bn., III MHG, III MEF.  

CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, JAPAN

09.11.2014

Story by Cpl. Wes Lucko 

III Marine Expeditionary Force   

CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, Japan — Thirteen years have passed since the tragic events unfolded Sept. 11, 2001. All who can remember that infamous day also remember how they felt at that moment. Whether they were in New York, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., at work or school, or simply at home… emotions all over the world ran high. Over a decade later, service members around the world, as well as an entire nation, still pause to remember.

Marines with 3rd Intelligence Battalion commemorated the events of 9/11 by running the endurance course on the 13th anniversary at Camp Hansen. After the physical training, 1st Sgt. Maurice Bease and Lt. Col. Mike D. Reilly, two Marines from the battalion who worked at the Pentagon on 9/11, recounted their experiences.

“I wanted people to understand the significance of 9/11 to our generation,” said Bease, the company first sergeant of Production and Analysis Company, 3rd Intel Bn., III Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group, III MEF. “With each generation come significant events that shape the entire generation. 9/11 was that event.”

The battalion’s three companies – Headquarters Company, Production and Analysis Company, and Counterintelligence and Human Intelligence Company – rallied together for the event.
“This morning's run was to ensure that the history and impact of that day continues to be passed down from one generation of Marines to another,” said Reilly, the commanding officer of 3rd Intel Bn. “We wanted to use a physical fitness event that was challenging, fostered team building, and would leave a lasting memory. The E-course was perfect.”

It is hard to believe how many years have passed, according to Bease, from Baltimore, Maryland. For some, 9/11 means a time of mourning, for others it is a historic moment.

“The average lance corporal now is about 20 years old, that would make them about 7 years old when 9/11 happened,” said Gunnery Sgt. Rick Bell, from Horseheads, New York, and the assistant operations chief with the battalion. “I think it is important for the Marines to know the catalyst for what made the (Marines) what they are today. When they joined the Marine Corps, they joined knowing there was a war going on and wanted to be part of that.”

One of the goals for the event was to bridge the gap between those who lived through the events of 9/11, and those who were simply alive during 9/11.

“An entire generation of Marines knows no other life than the post-9/11 Corps,” said Reilly, from Houston, Texas. “It's been foundational to so many Marines and their families. It's the event of our age.”

At the end of the event, junior Marines gathered around the more senior to hear their stories from the historic day. Though they may have been tired from the course and soaking wet from the on-going torrential downpour that morning, the leaders of 3rd Intel Bn. took time to commemorate how 9/11 impacted the Marines Corps and the nation.

“If our Marines got only one thing out of today's event,” emphasized Reilly, “it's that 9/11 fundamentally changed our world, and that we must be prepared and ready for the hard challenges that still lay ahead.”

• Date Taken: 09.11.2014
• Date Posted: 09.12.2014 02:39
• Story ID: 141891
• Location: CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, JP
• Hometown: BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, US
• Hometown: HORSEHEADS, NEW YORK, US
• Hometown: HOUSTON, TEXAS, US