Deployed Airmen, Soldiers honor 10-year anniversary of 9/11

Published Sept. 11, 2011
By Master Sgt. Chance Babin
380th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- As Americans remember and honor all who were lost in the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, deployed men and women at the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing and its mission partners reflected and showed their support in several ways.

Some paid tribute to all who perished at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pa., as well all who have given their lives in the name of freedom in the 10 years since the attacks, at a ceremony Sept. 11, at the wing 9/11 memorial here.

The ceremony began at 8:46 a.m., the exact time of the first attack.

The wing Top 3, a private organization of senior NCOs whose primary objective is to enhance the military professionalism, development and quality of life for all enlisted personnel and their families, hosted the event.

"This is the 10th anniversary of an event that has changed all of us," said Master Sgt. Jay Moreau, a member of Top 3 and a readiness and emergency management flight chief for the 380th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron. "The Top 3 felt we needed to do something memorable and allow all 380th AEW warriors an opportunity to reflect."

The event was a channel through which many of the deployed service members could honor those who have sacrificed for our nation, the Livonia, La., native said.

"It is important, no matter where we are, to pay tribute to those that lost their lives that fateful day and to also pay tribute to the many thousands that have given their lives since that day to oppose those that would want to take away that which we value most: our freedom," said Chief Master Sgt. Peter Stone, the 380th AEW command chief. "While I cannot speak for others, I am certain they all feel the same patriotic duty that I do to honor those that have given the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of democracy and freedom across the world."

This was a sentiment echoed by Master Sgt. Marshaun Ellis, a Chicago, Ill., native.

"It is a chance to demonstrate patriotic duty and resolve no matter where we are, as Americans serving," said Ellis, the NCO in charge of force protection for the 380th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron. "This memorial allows us to show respect for those who lost their lives on that fateful day. We can remember those who sacrificed their lives for our country -- Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, first responders and those loved ones we lost to such a despicable act of war."

For Senior Airman Jericha Laanan, a guardsman deployed from Anderson Air Force Base, Guam, this day is a chance for her to reflect on what made her serve in the first place.

"I didn't want to serve at first. Then all this happened," she said. "I was 11. It changed my outlook. It made me want to be a protector of my country."

For Laanan, being deployed during the 10th anniversary of the attacks is especially challenging because she is separated from her family, most notably, her father, who serves in the same unit at Anderson AFB.

"My dad's been in the military since I was young. He was in the military when this happened," she said. "[Being here on the 10th anniversary of the attacks] is hard. I would rather be with my dad."

An E-3 Sentry crew here honored this day in another way.

The crew is flying dozens of flags for various individuals and organizations to send out, said Maj. George Niles, an aircraft commander with the 963rd Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron deployed here from Tinker AFB, Okla.

"Every one of them will be flown over the AOR (area of responsibility), brought back and certified," he added.

Niles flew some of the first missions following the attacks on 9/11. He later retired from the Air Force and flew for American Eagle Airlines, a sister company of American Airlines, before coming back to duty on the Retired Aviator Recall Program.

He plans to have a flag of his own flown as well.

"We're going to fly it in memory of the American Airlines crew that perished on Sept. 11," Niles said. "We'll send it to the corporate [American Airlines] headquarters in Dallas."
For one of the members of the crew, this day is uniquely memorable. The flight today marks his 20th flight, and he will earn an air medal.

"I was in 5th grade in Madison, Miss., when I found out everything happened. My uncle worked in the Pentagon," said Airman 1st Class Asein Rousell, an air surveillance technician for the 963rd Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron who is from New Orleans, La. "I just think it will be a good memory for me to fly on the 10th anniversary."
He remarked that earning an air medal while flying over a war zone on such a historic day is something that will always be special for him.

"As you reflect on where you were on 9/11 -- the moment you found out, the faces of those around you and your feelings, then and now -- remember when you saw the flags flying from bridges and houses, the people gathering together for comfort and prayer," said Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Lofgren, the 380th AEW commander, in a message to the troops. "They may have attacked us, but all they did was make us stronger, more sure of our conviction and motivated to overcome this test. Just as prior American generations have overcome great tests, so too shall we triumph."