FORT CARSON, Colo. — Runners begin the first leg of a three-day run from Fort Carson to Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver, while carrying the Ground Zero Flag Sept. 9, 2022, as part of the Colorado Chapter Honor and Remember Run for the Fallen event. (Photo by Norman Shifflett)
By Norman Shifflett
Fort Carson Public Affairs Office
FORT CARSON, Colo. — While running through Fort Carson, 10th Group runners stopped at 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) headquarters to honor their fallen Soldiers Sept. 9, 2022, as part of the Colorado Chapter Honor and Remember Run for the Fallen event. (Photo by Norman Shifflett)
FORT CARSON, Colo. — Fort Carson was the starting point for the Run for the Fallen event Sept. 9, 2022, two days before the 21st Anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The run took place Sept. 9-11, 2022, beginning at the Mountain Post and ending at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver. The event kicked off at 7 a.m. with members of Fort Carson, representatives from the community and Gold Star Family members who joined the committee members and runners for an opening ceremony.
The run honors and remembers Colorado service members and first responders who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving their country and communities.
“We will embark on a three-day … tribute journey, stopping every mile to call out the names of our fallen heroes from Colorado,” said Jennifer Earp, Director for the Colorado Run for the Fallen and the Colorado Chapter of Honor and Remember. “We will be calling off more than 450 Colorado fallen military and first responder heroes who gave their lives in service to our nation and/or communities.”
Gold Star Family members were present to hear the reading of the names.
Among those who attended to hear the reading of the names was Gold Star Mother Nancy Pfander.
“You don’t want their life to be forgotten” said Pfander. “They did live, they didn’t just die.”
FORT CARSON, Colo. — Jennifer Earp, director, Colorado Run for the Fallen and the Colorado Chapter of Honor and Remember, far right, stands with the runners while the 4th Infantry Band performs the National Anthem Sept. 9, 2022, as part of the Colorado Chapter Honor and Remember Run for the Fallen event. (Photo by Norman Shifflett)
Pfander is the mother of Marine Cpl. Kyle Powell who was born on Fort Carson and was killed by a roadside bomb while conducting route clearance in Iraq.
During the opening ceremony James Kilpatrick, survivor outreach coordinator, said this run is more than just a run it is a symbolic gesture to remind people of the ultimate sacrifice military service members have made for this country.
On their three-day journey to Fort Logan the runners had the honor of carrying the Ground Zero Flag.
The flag is an American flag that was flown at ground zero shortly after 9/11, at Samarra East Airfield in Iraq in 2003, and was part of Operation Red Dawn where 1st Brigade Combat Team, now known as the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, and Special Operations Task Force 121, captured Saddam Hussein in Ad Dawr, Iraq.
Not only did the group carry the flag during the journey, but also carried with them a proclamation from the city of Colorado Springs declaring Sept. 9, 2022, as Colorado’s Run for The Fallen Day.
“You all are here because you understand the importance of keeping that everlasting flame lit and how it must never be extinguished through silence,” said Kilpatrick. “Remembrance is defined in this case as an action of remembering our dead.”
FORT CARSON, Colo. — While running through Fort Carson, 10th Group runners stopped at 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) headquarters to honor the fallen Soldiers Sept. 9, 2022, as part of the Colorado Chapter Honor and Remember Run for the Fallen event. (Photo by Norman Shifflett)
FORT CARSON, Colo. — James Kilpatrick, survivor outreach coordinator, Survivor Outreach Services, right, speaks to Gold Star Families and guests Sept. 9, 2022, at the opening ceremony for the Colorado Chapter Honor and Remember Run for the Fallen event at Gate 1 at Fort Carson. (Photo by Norman Shifflett)