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This woman was overcome with emotion during a 2006 walk in San Diego. |
By PAMELA GOULD
Deborah Ivory has taken part in each of the America Supports You Freedom Walks held at the Pentagon since their inception in 2005.
They've been a great way for her to catch up with others who lost loved ones at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. And they've provided a chance to see people she and her late husband knew from their Army careers.
Normally she hears from organizers by August, telling her about events planned to commemorate the anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people on U.S. soil.
But this year she received only two brief e-mails, one about the memorial planned for New York and one telling her of this morning's wreath-laying ceremony at the Pentagon.
"I was kind of disappointed when I didn't hear from them [about the walk] because I was getting my whole family geared up for it again," Ivory said yesterday.
"There's not a whole lot of anything anymore."
The Defense Department is breaking from a 4-year practice and not hosting the walk this year.
"The DoD opted not to host a Freedom Walk this year due to budgetary considerations and the high costs associated with executing the event," spokesman David Oten said yesterday.
He said the decision was made in November, before the current administration took office.
The 2006 event cost $816,063, the 2007 event $1,045,673, and the 2008 event $715,071, Oten said, citing the 2008 Defense Department Inspector General's audit. He said a 2009 event was projected to have cost $700,000.
WALKS TO REMEMBER
Then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld inaugurated the Freedom Walk in 2005 to commemorate the 2001 attacks and as a way for the public to show support for the military and reflect on the nation's freedoms.
One hundred eighty-four people were killed at the Pentagon when terrorists slammed American Airlines Flight 77 into the building.
The first Freedom Walk traveled a two-mile route from the Pentagon to the National Mall, where country singer Clint Black performed.
Last year, the walk started at Arlington National Cemetery and ended at the Pentagon. There, the Oak Ridge Boys performed within view of the Pentagon Memorial, which was dedicated four days later.
An estimated 15,000 people took part in the first walk and nearly the same number last year. Each year, family members of some of the people killed in the Pentagon have taken part, many wearing T-shirts or pins with photos of their loved ones.
Oten said support for the military continues in communities across the nation, including Fredericksburg, and information about groups and events is available at ourmilitary.mil.
LITTLE FANFARE
Ivory and her late husband, Sgt. Maj. Lacey B. Ivory, enlisted in the Army together and were living in Woodbridge at the time of the attacks.
She has since retired and remarried and now lives near Baltimore.
Today, she plans to attend the short ceremony at the Pentagon with her two daughters, two granddaughters, a sister and possibly more family members.
The lack of attention to the anniversary disturbs her.
"It's not the [walk] alone; it's that there's not a whole lot of fanfare at all this year," she said.
Disappointment aside, Ivory said she'll honor her husband, and the others who died eight years ago, in any way possible.
"Anything they have, up until the bitter end, we will go," she said. "As long as they will honor our loved ones, we will be there."
Pamela Gould: 540/735-1972
Email: pgould@freelancestar.com
When Ken Kreitz of Spotsylvania County found out there wouldn't be an America Supports You Freedom Walk at the Pentagon this year, he scrambled to organize one in the Fredericksburg area. "We want the event to have a grass-roots, celebratory feel for America and the vets," Kreitz, a Massaponax resident, said yesterday. "It's going to be a good old-fashioned American pie type of celebration." On Sept. 12, 2001, Kreitz wanted to set his car apart from all the vehicles with "God Bless America" stickers on them. "I wrote 'thank you vets' on my car instead," he said. One week later, he registered thankyouvets.com as a domain name and began attending patriotic rallies like the Pentagon's Freedom Walk. Today, the local Freedom Walk will begin at noon and proceed from the Fredericksburg Post Office on Princess Anne Street to Hurkamp Park. Members of the public are invited to join in and are encouraged to wear patriotic T-shirts or bring flags and other symbols of patriotism. --Aaron Richardson |
