Walkers remember 9/11 victims

WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON — Margaret Young walked for her son, Edmond, who was killed in the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, at age 22.

Retired Army Sgt. Sean Lewis walked on his artificial right leg, which replaced the limb he lost to an enemy mortar in Iraq three years ago.

And Ray “The Flag Man” DeFrees walked with the $5 American flag he bought in a supermarket after Sept. 11. He has padded the staff with insulation and loves to let others feel what it’s like to carry the stars and stripes.

They were among thousands of marchers who joined the Defense Department’s third annual America Supports You Freedom Walk on Sunday, held to remember the victims of Sept. 11 and to honor those in uniform.

The participants, most wearing special white “Freedom Walk” T-shirts, assembled at the Lincoln Memorial and stepped off to the strains of a John Philip Sousa march at 9:15 a.m. for the mile-and-a-half walk to the Pentagon.

The event was one of two scheduled locally to mark the anniversary of the terrorist attacks.