October 12, 2001

I heard about the Flag Across America run on 10 October, the day before the start. Knowing the Flag would come through Rhode Island the following night, I emailed the state coordinator about participating. He invited me along.

I joined a group of wonderful people from the Riverside Fitness Center and Running Club just after midnight on 12 October. We were in South Kingstown, south of Providence. There were still nearly 30 miles of dark and lonely western Rhode Island to cover, and they had to get to the Connecticut border by 0430 to stay on schedule. Not being much of a runner (my heart was in it, but my legs don’t do too many 8-minute miles), I had intended to run with them for a couple of miles and turn back. However, caught up in the excitement, I decided to stay with their support truck all the way to the Connecticut border.

Our state is so small that the entire run through was in the dark, from about 8:30 pm to 4:30 am. I will never forget the rush of seeing the runners come over the rise on Route 1 carrying the American Flag, led by a police car, lights flashing, followed by a caravan of support vehicles and preceded by the state coordinator, his truck decked out with a HUGE American flag. I will never forget Ray, the local police officer, who ran about 20 miles at an 8 minute pace. I will never forget the people who came in small groups to stand by the side of Route 1 at three in the morning and silently hold flags in the air as the runners passed. Or the elderly couple who followed us for miles in the middle of the night. I will never forget the runners, ordinary Americans, who were spread thin but gutted it out to keep to the schedule through the night and get the Flag to California on time. No one ran alone; the Flag always had at least two escorts, no matter how beat the runners were. I will never forget the event team, so pumped up that first night out, and anticipating a month in their RV; what a terrific bunch of people.

But mostly, I will never forget, for as long as I live, those few precious minutes when I carried the American Flag along Route 1, one small link in a huge American chain. As a Navy Reservist and a Navy civilian employee, I carried the Flag in memory of my colleagues, military and civilian, at the Pentagon, and for all the thousands of American heroes from every walk of life who paid with their lives on that awful day. I am unashamed to say that there were tears in my eyes. What an awesome experience...

As we entered Westerly shortly after 4:00 am, just before the CT border, we *tried* to wake up the town! Horns blaring, everyone chanting “USA, USA”. Precisely on time, at 0430, the state coordinator handed the Flag off to more Americans at the RI/CT border to continue on its way. We cheered and yelled as the Flag went around the bend and out of sight, then we hugged, shared some beer and soda, hitched a ride back to our cars, and went on to our day jobs.

I have been so moved by this event, and by watching the Flag continue on its way across the country, that I had planned to fly to LA and drive out to spend the last night with the run, just as I spent the first night with the run. That, however, will not be possible. This war in which we are now reluctantly engaged has taken a personal turn; I’ve been recalled to active duty in the Navy, and will be someplace else on 11 November.

My sincere thanks to all of the coordinators who have made this incredible event possible. Such a huge event launched on such short notice speaks volumes for the level of effort put forth by a group of very dedicated people.

I’ll be watching with tears in my eyes as the Flag arrives at LAX, knowing that it arrived via the coordinated efforts of thousands of ordinary Americans. This is the greatest country on earth ... God Bless America.

Jennifer Nash
Commander, USNR
"We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail." -- George W. Bush

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