Photos by Ralph Freso/GCU News
Ethan Doest rose early Thursday with his fellow Grand Canyon University Army ROTC cadets, knowing the solemnity of the days ahead.
This marked the fifth time that Doest, an engineering major scheduled to graduate in December, participated with his cadre in remembering those lost in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In the quiet hum of the morning, they planted about 3,000 handheld flags on the lawn adjacent to GCU Ballpark.
The significance of the flag-planting, a ceremony that has become a tradition for the ROTC at GCU, was not lost on Doest 25 years after 9/11, when commercial airliners crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field outside of Pittsburgh. Those attacks took the lives of 2,977 victims and forever changed the world.
“It’s a big deal,” Doest said, adding that some of his family members served following the 9/11 attacks. Doest’s older brother, Jacob, also served in GCU’s ROTC program as a battalion commander.
On Thursday, Doest's thoughts also turned to another family.
“GCU ROTC is very special. A lot of different schools have cliques, but GCU is a family,” Doest said.
The 94 cadets met at Colter Field at about 6 a.m., stretched, then paused to discuss the significance of what they were doing – a simple flag-planting, but something that would hold so much meaning – before jogging a half mile to the lawn.
“The meaning of this is obvious,” Doest said, though what might not be as obvious to everyone else was what the occasion meant to him in terms of service, family and leadership. “The meaning of the program shines through the people who lead it. The MS4s (senior college cadets) lead our ROTC. It’s up to them to set that precedence of caring for the cadets and showing them how to be good leaders. It goes along with GCU.”
This also marked the fourth consecutive year that Noah Patton, a senior electrical engineering major, participated in the flag-planting. Patton took charge Wednesday night by setting up the strings to help outline the display's frame and by bringing the flags to the site.
The cadets arrived at the lawn at about 6:25 a.m. Twenty minutes later, the flags were in the ground, forming the date 9/11.
“I have a couple family members in the military,” Patton said. “There’s a lot of meaning, a lot of inspiration.
“There’s tradition here. It’s been going on for years. You get together, place the flags and get to see how solemn it is. A lot of meaning about this.”
Capt. Reanna Klanseck, assistant professor of military science and cadre officer in charge, stressed the importance of making sure the cadets who were not born at the time of the attacks continue to carry the legacy of the flag-planting and remember those lost in the attacks.
“It’s cool for GCU ROTC to do it with the feeling of patriotism it provides and the support of the university, as well as the thousands of students who will walk by so that it will impact the entire campus community,” Klanseck said.
The flags will remain on the lawn through at least today to allow visitors, especially those arriving on campus for the Canyon Civic Conference, to see GCU ROTC’s commitment to civic engagement while remembering those whose lives were lost in the attacks.
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
***
Related content:
GCU News: New officers relished path to commissioning
GCU News: Officer, newly commissioned at GCU, carries on family's military tradition
