Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Man walks for 24 hours to mark attacks

A variety of people joined a a former Socorro resident and three other soldiers

Argen Duncan El Defensor Chieftain Reporter, aduncan@dchieftain.com

These soldiers walked the walk — for 24 hours.

Staff Sgt. Duane "Dion" Padilla, 28, originally from Socorro, and three of his comrades walked in downtown Washington, D.C., for 24 hours straight on Sept. 11 in memory of the people who died the terrorist attacks seven year ago.

"It was pretty interesting," said Padilla, who is stationed at Fort Detrick, Md., as a technician for the U.S. Army Research Institute for Infectious Diseases.

The men also want to make Sept. 11 a national holiday and see a monument built in the National Mall, according to their "Day the Eagle Cried" Web site.

Padilla; Sgt. Steve J. Stephens of Portland, Ore.; Sgt. Jesse A. Stephens of Plano, Texas; and Sgt. Nathan R. LeDoux of San Jose, Calif., invited others to walk with them. They walked from 11:59 p.m. Sept. 10 to midnight Sept. 12.

Their route circled the National Mall every two hours.

The group arrived at their starting point about 9 p.m. on Sept. 10 to set up, and gave interviews to television reporters. The story aired on some 11 p.m. newscasts.

Many people joined the soldiers for periods of time ranging from 20 minutes to 12 hours. They talked about their reasons for coming and memories of the attacks.

"They kept us motivated and kept us going, especially in those later hours when we were starting to feel the walk, starting to hurt," Padilla said.

Padilla participated because he had seen images from Sept. 11 on television and observed the moments of silence, but he wanted to do something.

A lot of people who participated in the walk said they were still angry and wanted to express it. Padilla felt the same way.

Shortly after the soldiers began walking, Padilla said, a man joined them. The man had seen the news story on TV, put on tennis shoes without stopping for socks and gone to meet them.

About 45 minutes into the walk, the men met a woman who clapped for them. She told the soldiers her sister had died in the attacks, and she came to thank and hug them.

The woman's actions were "real inspiration to get us going and keep up going," Padilla said.

Padilla also recalled a quadriplegic Gulf War veteran who found the walkers about 3 a.m. and rode with them for a while.

More than two dozen supporters also left notes on the walk Web site, expressing praise of and pride in the men and their effort.

At least 12 volunteers, including the soldiers' spouses and people from their unit, handed out information, and supplied food and water to the walkers during the event.

A business owner and his family brought cases of water, manned the information station at the Washington Monument and walked. The man also ordered pizza, the only hot meal the walkers ate all day.

"We'd just been surviving on Power Bars and Uncrustable sandwiches," Padilla said.

In a phone interview on the afternoon of Sept. 12, Padilla said he was worn out.

"My feet are pretty banged up, and I'm pretty sore and tired," he said.

The technician had been awake for 38 hours by the time he was able to rest.

A man in the Washington area is making a documentary about the soldiers' experience.

The walk started when the idea came to Steve Stephens during a visit to the National Mall on July 4. Steve Stephens called Jesse Stephens, and Padilla and LeDoux heard about the idea later.

None of them had ever undertaken such a task before. They had to meet with the Washington police and the Secret Service to get permission, and LeDoux built a Web site for the first time.

The military couldn't sponsor the event, but the men received encouragement from their unit.

Padilla originally helped with organization, but decided in August to walk. A broken hand kept him from attending an army training camp on Sept. 11, so he joined the other three in training for the walk.

"I think we're going to try to get it going again next year," Padilla said.

The technician planned to start working on the project as soon as his group was rested.

The men's Web site is www.daytheeaglecried.com.

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