178th Wing holds 9/11 Remembrance Ruck Run

SPRINGFIED, Ohio -- More than 50 Airmen from the 178th Wing participated in either a ruck march or run at Springfield Air National Guard base Sept. 11 to honor the lives lost 15 years ago in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The ruck march and run began at the flag pole after a brief ceremony.

Lt. Col. Bernard Willis, 178th Wing, began the ceremony with the reading of Ohio Gov. John Kasich's Patriot Day resolution. Willis also spoke on the importance the guard plays in safeguarding the country. 

Maj. Chaplain Joseph Branch, gave the invocation stressing the important changes the country underwent that day.

Branch remembered how it was that day.  "Here at the base people were doing everyday things and the moment came where everything stopped."

The course for the ruck march and run was 9.11 kilometers or 5.66 miles.  The route included the main base complex, the Army National Guard complex, and the 251st Cyberspace Engineering Installation Group complex.

The ruck march started at 8:46 a.m. when the North Tower was hit.  The runners started at 9:03 a.m. when the South Tower was hit.  The marchers stopped to recognize the Pentagon attack at 9:37 a.m.  The event finished at 10:03 a.m. at the base flagpole to represent the time when Flight 93 crashed in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

The 9/11 event came about because Willis wanted to commemorate this date.

"I also realized that there were a bunch of children in the victims' families who are the same ages of my kids, including my youngest who was not born until right after 9/11," said Willis.  "They deserve our remembrance of their loved ones and a small amount of time and physical exertion in not much to ask for the worst terrorist attack in American history."