It’s time for 2977 ten-foot high American flags to be flown in Alumni Park. Two years after devoting countless hours of his college career to planning the original “Wave of Flags” Sept.11 tribute in Alumni Park 2009 Pepperdine alumnus Ryan Sawtelle cannot stand to see people begin to forget.
In 2008 Pepperdine saw the first of what would soon become a widely respected tribute to those who forfeited their lives in the 9/11 attacks. Then a senior and president of the Pepperdine College Republicans Sawtelle and volunteers set up nearly 3000 flags a sweeping expanse of red white and blue to honor every life lost in the terrorist attack.
After the initial tribute in 2008 the Pepperdine Office of Student Activities absorbed Wave of Flags dissociating it from any particular club or organization and making it a campus-wide tribute still made possible by dedicated volunteers. The 2009 display also began the tradition of featuring international flags to honor foreign nationals killed in the attack.
“After two years of my Pepperdine career putting so much effort into the first [Wave of Flags] I wanted to see it happen every year Sawtelle said. I’m glad that Pepperdine picked up the torch and ran with it. It’s hard for me to break away and pretend like I don’t want to control it anymore but they did such a good job with it last year and the international flags were great so I know it’ll be done well again this year.”
According to Pepperdine senior Chris Garcia who is heavily involved in carrying out this year’s Wave of Flags Lt. Col. Buzz Patterson is slated to speak and the family members of every 9/11 victim were invited to the commemorative flag display at Alumni Park via a press release that went out on Tuesday morning. Garcia is fervent about remembrance of 9/11.
“This is the best country in the world and I think the rights individuals have here are not met anywhere Garcia said. The reason I continue to do this is because it’s important for people to understand that there is a threat to our freedom … and the reason we fly these flags is because people are starting to forget that almost three thousand innocent Americans and foreign nationals were killed.”
Since graduating Sawtelle no longer has a hand in the Wave of Flags but rather in the “Ride to the Flags two distinct events originally conceived and arranged by Sawtelle that many people group together.
Independent of Pepperdine Ride to the Flags is a charity motorcycle ride beginning at Point Mugu Naval Air Station and ending with a memorial service at the flag display in Alumni Park. The ride is sponsored by actor Gary Sinise for whom Sawtelle organizes charitable events and benefits the Semper Fi Fund Snowball Express and the Stephen Siller FDNY Children’s Foundation all charities in support of post-9/11 veterans and families of fallen heroes.
Sawtelle says he expects 700 motorcycles to join the ride– double the number of bikes in 2008– including the Patriot Guard Riders Bikers for Christ and American Legion Riders among others. People who have been personally affected by 9/11 are flying across the country to join the ride and injured Marine motorcycle groups from San Diego among others are traveling long distances in order to participate.
The first official event of the Gary Sinise Charitable Foundation the ride does not demand a donation in order to join the ride nor does it give away free items like many charity rides do allowing 100 percent of the funds raised to be given to the charities.
This is the opposite of the way most motorcycle rallies for charity are organized. Sawtelle explained that many times a minimum donation is required of riders half of which goes toward paying overhead for the free items provided.
“You have to think of it as if that’s charity’s money and if you have to pay for a T-shirt you’ve got to take it away from charity to give it to the vendor to pay for the shirt to give to the rider Sawtelle said. That seems so backwards to me.”
Anything that is free in Ride to the Flags has been donated and though Sawtelle says that donors have been gracious– from monetary donations to water banners patches graphic design for promotional posters and the Red Cross donation of Starbucks coffee and pastries for up to 1200 people– he does not see a place in the ride for those interested in swag.
“I’m only interested in the riders who are doing this for charity Sawtelle said. If there’s riders out there who do things for free T-shirts and barbeque lunches there’s plenty of those rides. This is not that ride.”
Next year marks the ten-year anniversary of Sept. 11 and Sawtelle said he will soon begin planning a large-scale commemorative event including an even greater number of bikers in the Ride to the Flags and he hopes to possibly plan something in conjunction with Pepperdine.
Regardless of prospects for next year Sawtelle remains firmly committed to the ride the cause it supports and especially the people who have written him emails from abroad thanking him for putting on the event and explaining how deeply they were affected by 9/11.
“I feel like I’ve got this great moral
obligation something that’s a weight on my shoulders Sawtelle said. It’s something that I love to do anyways and I just want to do it more and more and more. I get satisfaction out [of] seeing people getting to properly memorialize that da. That was the whole goal of putting up the flags having the Harley ride and conceiving the whole project— so people would not forget that day.”