MICC-Fort Riley keeps flag in motion during Patriot Day remembrance

FORT RILEY, Kan.—For 12 hours, an American flag remained in motion across Fort Riley as Mission and Installation Contracting Command Soldiers and Army Civilians marked the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Soldiers and Civilians from MICC-Fort Riley and 923rd Contracting Battalion, 418th Contracting Support Brigade, carried a U.S. flag in continuous rotation on Patriot Day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., creating a moving tribute to the nearly 3,000 people killed in the terrorist attacks and those who answered the nation’s call to service in the minutes, days and years that followed.

Lt. Col. Ryan Dittmer, commander of the 923rd Contracting Battalion and director of MICC-Fort Riley, introduced the tradition after participating in similar observances while assigned less than two hours from Manhattan at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey.

The tribute was also personal for Dittmer, https://www.ksnt.com/video/fort-riley-honors-9-11-anniversary-with-12-hour-flag-march/12162817 The events of Sept. 11 helped shape his decision to join the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps in 2002 and active duty in 2007. After the event, Dittmer continued to reflect on the sense of duty he and many others felt following the attacks and how that commitment continues to influence those serving today.

“I am incredibly proud of the team and their hard work to remember those American lives lost 25 years ago,” Dittmer said. “We met all our objectives and safely carried the American Flag over 35 miles during the 12 hours.”

He said the route near Fort Riley’s 12th Street Gate provided a safe location for participants while also making the tribute highly visible to the community. Throughout the day, passing motorists thanked participants or honked their horns in support.

“Not unlike the months after the tragic events of 9/11, where the nation came together, I feel that this was a moment of cohesion and remembrance,” Dittmer said. “With our success this year, the 923rd Contracting Battalion and MICC-Fort Riley will look at opening this event up to our mission partners, potentially making next year a 24-hour observance.”

The MICC-Riley and 923rd Contracting Battalion tribute complemented Fort Riley’s annual Sept. 11 Commemoration Ceremony at Cavalry Parade Field. Installation Soldiers, Civilians, families, community members and local first responders gathered to remember those killed in the attacks, support first responders and loved ones still dealing with the effects, and honor service members who gave their lives in the wars that followed. A memorial display unveiled at the ceremony included a replica of the World Trade Center towers on a pentagon-shaped base bearing the names of 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley Soldiers who died while serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.

For Sgt. Maj. Enes Memic, the 923rd Contracting Battalion sergeant major and Dittmer’s senior enlisted adviser, the significance of keeping the flag moving was rooted in a personal memory much closer to the attacks. Memic was sitting in a trade school classroom in downtown Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001. He did not see the first plane hit but he and his classmates were talking about the first tower being on fire, when he turned towards a window in time to see the second plane strike the World Trade Center. After classes were canceled, he made his way to the street and watched as the towers fell. He was stranded in the city for hours before finally reuniting with his family at home.

Before the flag tribute began, Memic, who joined the Army in 2006, shared details of his experience on 9/11 with the formation and acknowledged the difficulty, and necessity, of remembering what the world witnessed 25 years earlier.

“I don’t want to remember 9/11,” Memic said. “Most people saw the attack on the news, but I watched it live and it was the most traumatizing moment of my life. I’d be happy never to think about it again. But we need to remember 9/11 because it shows us why we wear this uniform and carry this flag.”

For Memic, Dittmer and all the Soldiers and Civilians who participated in the Patriot Day event, keeping the flag in motion offered a tangible connection between remembrance and continued service, honoring the lives lost on Sept. 11 while carrying forward the commitment to serve the in protection of the nation and never forget.

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