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Cops remember lost ones

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Anthony J. Hyatt
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
The Tyndall fitness center staff gathered Airmen together to participate in a Team Tyndall memorial formation run for Sept. 11. The run, which started at 7:46 a.m. to coordinate with the minute the first plane hit the World Trade Center, was led by Brig. Gen. Tod Wolters, 325th Fighter Wing commander.

"More than 400 Airmen crossed the finish line," said Tech. Sgt. Ed Flanders, fitness center NCO in charge.

The memorial run was to remember all those affected by Sept. 11 events.

One squadron, the 325th Security Forces Squadron, also remembered fellow Airmen that have been killed in action since the 9/11 attacks.

As the participants formed up by squadron, lead by their senior ranking member, every runner looked as one, but the 325th SFS's physical training uniform differed from all the other squadrons; in that on their pt shirt they had a picture of an Airmen's face.

"I came up with the idea to do the run while wearing a picture of one of our fallen Security Forces brethren on our shirts," said Maj. Paul Quigley, 325th SFS commander. "My Airmen were excited about the idea and began doing research on the Airmen that have given everything."

The pictures were of:
· Airman 1st Class Elizabeth Jacobson, 17th Security Forces Squadron, Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas
· Airman 1st Class Jason Nathan, 48th SFS, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England
· Airman 1st Class Leebrand Chavis, 824th SFS, Moody AFB, Ga.
· Airman 1st Class Carl Ware Jr., 15th SFS, Hickam AFB, Hawaii
· Staff Sgt. Brian McElroy, 3rd SFS, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska
· Staff Sgt. John Self, 314th SFS, Little Rock AFB, Ark.
· Technical Sgt. Jason Norton, 3rd SFS, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska

Some of the 325th SFS troops at had been deployed with these fallen Airmen.

"All of us have been there at one point since 9/11," said Major Quigley. "Those Airmen will never be forgotten and they will always be in our hearts and thoughts but on this day we wanted to wear them on our hearts."

"When people ask us the question, 'who is that?' we would say, 'that's A1C Liz Jacobson, a security forces heros," Major Quigley said.
"Airman Chavis was a funny, happy-go-lucky guy that always had a smile on his face and loved playing basketball," said Senior Airman Christopher, 325th SFS patrolman.

"Sergeant McElroy would have given you his shirt of his back," said Senior Airman Pedro Medina, 325th SFS sentry.

"Airmen Jacobson was a fun, young Airman who wore funny-looking brown plastic librarian glasses," said Major Quigley.

"This was a perfect opportunity to honor those affected by the 9/11 events, but also to remember our fellow brothers and sisters," said Senior Master Sgt. Ricky Grimes, 325th SFS first sergeant.