Photo By Staff Sgt. Noshoba Davis | Soldiers with the Louisiana National Guard's 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Tiger...... read more read more
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ERBIL AIR BASE, Iraq – September 11, 2001: the date alone brings a different reaction, emotion or memory to each person old enough to remember the events that day. For the younger generation it is just another day in the history books, but for those who remember, it’s the day that changed everything for Americans.
Many Americans can tell you exactly where they were, what they were doing and the emotions they felt as they saw America come under attack. That fateful day saw many men and women step up to help their fellow Americans. There was no race, gender, ethnicity or religion on that day. Just neighbors helping neighbors; a nation coming together.
“The events of 9-11 are something you never expect to happen, but when they do you find out truly what’s important to people,” said Col. Scott Desormeaux, the brigade commander of the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Tiger Brigade. “The thing that stands out to me from that day is the way our country came together and it didn’t matter if you knew the person or not you were helping them. The unity of that day and the days following show exactly who the American people are as a whole, and I hope that we can get back to that amount of unity in the future.”
The aftermath of that horrific day led to men and women answering the nation’s call to serve in the United States Military. Twenty years later, that day and actions of those Americans who gave all are not forgotten. Each year across the world service members in the U.S. Military, firefighters and Americans participate in remembrance runs or events to honor the fallen of that day.
Tiger Brigade represented a small number of U.S. service members in Iraq that took a moment to honor and remember Sept. 11, and all those we lost to the events of that day.
Soldiers of the Tiger Brigade alongside service members of other U.S. Military branches, Coalition Forces and first responders participated in various events to include an obstacle course, half marathon and marathon to remember the fallen.
Over 240 service members signed up for the 9-11 Marathon/Half-Marathon. Seventeen service members completed the full marathon and 178 service members completed the half marathon.
Each service member had his or her own reason for running the race and participating in the obstacle course. It ranged from a personal fitness goal to deeper personal reasons.
“Participating in the 9-11 Half-Marathon alongside my fellow Soldiers was not only about accomplishing something that I haven’t done before, but it was also an opportunity to participate in an event that observed an event that changed the entire world’s history,” said 1st Lt. Soliz, a chemical officer with Tiger Brigade
The marathon and half marathon was held on Sept. 5 and saw service members getting up early in the morning to run the set distances at Erbil Air Base (EAB) in Iraq. Once service members completed the run they were awarded a custom 9-11 Marathon/Half-Marathon medal.
“Finishing the 9-11 Half-Marathon brought up multiple feelings: the feeling of accomplishment, pain, pure exhaustion and many more,” said Soliz. “It was great to have a goal and meet that goal which was to finish the half-marathon in what I believed to be a reasonable amount of time.”
On the day of Sept. 11, 88 service members participated in an obstacle course held by Erbil Fire Department.
“The USO approached the fire department to coordinate a joint event for 9-11. We wanted to demonstrate a physical challenge, something we do as fire fighters,” said Don Schell, a firefighter crew chief at the EAB Fire Department. “Events like this allows us to turn something negative into a positive by bringing people together and giving a little back to the base population we support.”
Service members competed in teams of four and had to complete four different events that the fire department had created. The first event required service members to drag a tire, simulating a pack carry. This was followed by a sled pull, which simulated pulling the fire hose, and the third event was a dummy drag. The final event required service members to pull a charged fire hose to a set point and shoot a target with the hose that simulated where a fire was located. Each team was timed as they went through the events, and at the end, the team with the fastest time was presented a grab bag from the USO and a challenge coin from the fire department.
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Michael Moriarty and Senior Airman James Belcom were two of the four members on the team with the fastest time at the end of the event.
“We wanted to come out and support the USO and fire department,” said Moriarty. “It was great seeing all of the other competitors and just having a good time with them.”
“It’s pretty sweet winning; you’ve got every branch out here and Air Force winning,” said Belcom.
The afternoon of the 11th saw service members at Erbil taking a moment of silence for the fallen Americans.
“The events of that day were a travesty beyond words, and every service member at home or deployed abroad should never forget those lost on or after that day,” said Desormeaux. “All of our men and women who have deployed since 9-11 should be proud of their service and sacrifice.”
| Date Taken: | 09.18.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 09.22.2021 02:49 |
| Story ID: | 405561 |
| Location: | IQ |
| Hometown: | LAFAYETTE, LA, US |
| Web Views: | 53 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Tiger Brigade remembers fallen on 20-year anniversary of 9/11, by SSG Noshoba Davis, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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