9/11 Memorial Ruck March

Photo By Sgt. Jocelyn Ontiveros | While forward deployed in the Middle East, U.S. Marine Cpl. Jade Daughtry walks alongside fellow service members during the Memorial Ruck March Sept. 11, 2017. Service members gathered to remember the 2,977 people who lost their lives Sept. 11, 2001.  

(UNDISCLOSED LOCATION)

09.12.2017

Story by Cpl. Jocelyn Ontiveros 

Task Force 51/5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade

Senior Airmen Anthony Carlson and Kenneth Winzer organized the event and welcomed all service members to participate. They gathered in the morning and marched five miles recounting memories of people that died on 9/11 or how that event had been the reason they decided to enlist.
“This morning helped us understand unity and what makes us Marines,” said 1st Sgt. Gilbert Oshana, a New York native with the Ground Combat Element, Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response – Central Command.
As they marched, Oshana explained why events like this remind us of how we set aside our differences and came together as a country to fight a common enemy.
“When I enlisted it wasn’t a time of war,” recounted Oshana. “In 2004 I was a drill instructor and my recruits were men that had enlisted because of the events that happened in 2001. It was something I admired about every single one of them.”
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After finishing the five mile march, the service members gathered for a ceremony at the 4k dome.
“Even though I was not able participate in the march I was very humbled to be able to speak in the ceremony that took place afterwards,” said Chief Petty Officer Nicholas Hall, Command Element, SPMAGTF CR-CC. “America changed on Sept. 11, 2001.”
Hall revealed that 9/11 was the reason he decided to enlist in the Navy. He remembers walking in to work and seeing the second plane hitting the tower.
“It was clear that the country was under attack,” said Hall. “It was tragic to see innocent people being used as a weapon against their own country.”
It’s been sixteen years since the attack and as the years pass by, the younger generations are more detached from the tragic event, which is why Hall and Oshana believe that events like the Memorial Ruck March are important.
“As we go down the line, the teenagers now were not alive for 9/11 and they will only hear about it from school and the stories we tell,” pointed Oshana.
“This is an ideology that hasn’t been defeated and it is something our younger generations are learning to fight against,” said Hall

• Date Taken: 09.12.2017
• Date Posted: 09.25.2017 07:53
• Story ID: 249502
• Location: (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION)