From Ground Zero to Army Leadership: Richard Walton’s Call to Serve 

Only minutes after arriving at work on Sept. 11, 2001, Sgt. Maj. Richard Walton heard a roar outside his office building in Lower Manhattan. When he looked toward the sky, he saw the bottom of a plane pass above him before it struck the World Trade Center. 

The impact shook the building like an earthquake. Walton had been working approximately one block from the towers, placing him close enough to witness the destruction unfold. The experience would eventually lead him away from his civilian career and toward more than 23 years of service in the U.S. Army. 

“You hear people say it all the time, but it really was like any other day,” Walton said. 

The sky was clear that morning as Walton followed his normal routine. He drove to the subway, took the train to work and arrived shortly before his shift began. He had been inside the building for only about five minutes when the first plane flew overhead. 

Walton and his co-workers evacuated and moved toward a nearby subway station. Instead of immediately focusing on his own escape, Walton and a friend helped other people board the train and leave the area. 

“What I saw was people helping other people, plain and simple,” Walton said. “Ordinary citizens who saw their fellow citizens being hurt.” 

He remembers people covered in soot and strangers helping one another move away from danger. At the same time, firefighters and police officers moved in the opposite direction, toward the burning towers.

As Walton’s train traveled above ground, he watched the towers collapse. Inside the subway car, the usual sounds of New York were replaced by silence. 

“It was the quietest I’ve ever heard a subway car,” Walton said. 

His family was unable to contact him for about four hours. Because he had been working so close to the World Trade Center, they feared he had been caught in the attack. Walton eventually reached them and confirmed that he was physically safe, although the emotional effects of the experience remained. 

Returning to work did not allow him to escape what happened. Each day, Walton walked past the destruction left near Ground Zero. He saw crushed buildings and knew that victims remained buried beneath the debris. 

“It was very hard to walk by there every day,” Walton said. “Knowing what occurred at that site weighed on me heavily.” 

Before Sept. 11, Walton had never seriously considered joining the military. Originally from Jamaica, he moved to New York on his 21st birthday and initially experienced a major culture shock. His mother and extended family helped him adjust to the city. Although his younger brother joined the Marine Corps, military service remained far from Walton’s mind. 

That changed after the attack. Seeing ordinary citizens help strangers and first responders run toward danger gave him a different understanding of service. 

“It really lit a fire in me to serve,” Walton said. “That was a catalyst for me to basically join the Army and got me to where I am today.”

Walton researched the military branches before choosing the Army. He believed it offered him an opportunity to become part of something larger than himself. That decision began a career that would include deployments, recruiting, instructing and mentoring soldiers. 

His service also required sacrifices. Walton missed birthdays, Christmases and a wedding anniversary. Some assignments demanded long hours and six- or seven-day workweeks. Still, he said those sacrifices were worthwhile. 

“I can really stand proud and say that my time in the service was worth it,” Walton said. 

After more than two decades in uniform, Walton has watched soldiers he mentored continue their careers and achieve goals of their own. One recently became an Army officer. Those relationships are among the accomplishments that make him most proud. 

Walton still feels the emotional weight of Sept. 11, particularly on its anniversaries. Although he later returned to New York to visit family, he has never returned to the site where the towers stood. 

The events of that day shaped not only his decision to enlist but also the leader he became. As he approaches the next chapter of his life, Walton hopes younger soldiers understand the value of integrity, selfless service and leading through personal example. 

“My advice would be to do everything that you do with integrity,” Walton said. “Be the kind of soldier that leads by example.” 

The Army photographer who wanted to be infantry 

Spc. Samantha Powers wanted to join the infantry. She first tried to enlist in the Marine Corps, but problems with that process sent her to an Army recruiter’s office instead. She still had infantry in mind. Her recruiter had another idea: combat camera. 

At the time, the job was called 25V, or combat cameraman. Powers said the recruiter thought infantry might be too tough for her and presented combat camera as a similar option. She was also interested in drawing and design, so the chance to do visual work helped persuade her. Today, her specialty is called 46V, or visual information specialist. 

It was not the route Powers had planned, but it eventually took her into the field with the kinds of units she had hoped to work alongside. During her previous assignment in Italy with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, she spent time with infantry soldiers and accompanied them on missions. That experience remains one of the parts of her career she remembers most. 

“I enjoyed doing my job overseas,” Powers said. “I wish I would have locked in more while I was there. I was young and in the moment.” 

Her reflection reaches beyond the assignment itself. She got to do work she enjoyed in a country many people hope to visit, yet she now thinks about what she could have learned and experienced while she was there. 

“I didn’t take the time to better my craft, or explore Italy,” she said. 

That kind of hindsight gives her story a more personal side than a description of cameras or job titles would. Powers was young, working overseas and spending time in the field. Looking back, 

she can value those experiences while also recognizing opportunities she let pass. Her time in Italy connected her original interest in infantry with the visual career she ultimately entered. 

Before heading into the field, Powers’ work starts with preparation. She packs a field bag, checks her camera equipment, charges what she needs and brings extra batteries. Those steps may sound ordinary, but they matter when an assignment takes place away from an office. A dead battery or missing piece of equipment could mean losing the chance to document something that cannot be repeated. 

Once on assignment, a visual information specialist has to follow what is happening and decide what needs to be captured. Photographs and video can show an event to people who were not there, whether those viewers are soldiers, families or members of the public. The finished image may look effortless. The person behind it had to arrive prepared, recognize the moment and record it clearly. 

Powers said people often confuse her specialty with public affairs. The two fields can work near each other, which may explain some of the confusion. But the distinction matters to her: visual information specialists focus on producing the photos and video, while public affairs involves a broader range of communication work. Seeing a military image online does not necessarily tell viewers who captured it or what that person’s assignment required. 

Her path into the specialty also complicates the way people might picture an Army photographer. She did not join because she wanted to spend every day behind a desk editing pictures. She had wanted infantry, and combat camera offered a way to work with soldiers in the field while using her interest in visual art. Italy gave her a chance to do both. 

Powers now works as a visual information specialist at Fort Gordon, Georgia. Like any assignment, her work can involve routine preparation and tasks that receive little attention from people outside the unit. But her experience with the 173rd shows why the job appealed to her. She could carry a camera into the field, document what the soldiers around her were doing and bring those moments back for others to see. 

She cannot return to Italy as the younger soldier she was then. What she can do is take the lesson she drew from that assignment into the next one: prepare for the work, pay attention while it is happening and make time to improve at the craft she chose. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Release date: Oct. 11, 2026 Contact: Subiefest Florida Email: info@subiefest.com Website: https://www.subiefest.com/florida/ 

Subiefest Florida brings car show and autocross to Freedom Factory Oct. 24 

BRADENTON, Fla. — Subiefest Florida will host an evening of cars, autocross and family activities Oct. 24 at Freedom Factory. The festival runs from 3 to 10 p.m. and gives Subaru owners and other car enthusiasts a chance to meet, explore vehicle builds and connect with businesses serving the Subaru community. 

Freedom Factory is a new venue for this year’s festival. Managed by SubieEvents LLC, the gathering brings together owners, performance shops, parts vendors and Subaru. Visitors do not need to own a Subaru to attend, and vehicles from other manufacturers are welcome. 

The program includes the Subimods.com All-Subaru Car Show and Subimods All-Subaru Autocross. Visitors can check out cars on display, watch drivers compete and browse vendor booths. Other attractions include Subaru of America display vehicles, a feature on the 2026 Outback Wilderness, games and door prize drawings. 

For visitors traveling from outside Florida, the event can also become part of a longer trip. Joseph Alvarez, a Nissan Z owner from Fayetteville, North Carolina, plans to attend. He became more interested in Subaru after a friend recently bought one and sees the festival as a chance to learn more about the brand and meet other enthusiasts. 

“It’s exciting because of its location in Florida,” Alvarez said. “For out-of-staters, this makes it a great vacation trip.” 

Alvarez said he is especially looking forward to seeing the cars and meeting members of the community. His interest shows how an event centered on one manufacturer can appeal to people who drive other brands. The festival’s policy welcoming all vehicles allows those visitors to bring their own cars while exploring what Subaru owners have built. 

Visitors who want to enter the car show or drive in the autocross must register separately from general admission. Both options are available through the event’s ticket website after selecting an admission ticket, provided spaces remain. Guests can also attend without entering either activity. 

Advance admission costs $25 per person, compared with $30 at the gate. A $40 premium ticket includes admission, an official event T-shirt and additional door prize entries. Premium ticket sales end at 10 p.m. Oct. 23. Admission tickets are sold per person, not per vehicle. 

Guests younger than 16 and older than 65 receive free admission. Free entry does not include T-shirts, merchandise packages or door prize tickets. Anyone entering the car show must purchase a ticket. 

Food concessions will be available, and guests may leave and return during the festival. Dogs are welcome but must remain on leashes, and owners must clean up after them. Alcohol, drugs, weapons, drones and open fires are prohibited. 

Tickets and activity registration are available at https://www.subiefest.com/florida/tickets. Visitors can find event information and frequently asked questions at https://www.subiefest.com/florida/. Attendance questions can be sent to info@subiefest.com. Businesses interested in sponsorship can contact sponsors@subiefest.com. 

About Subiefest Florida 

Subiefest Florida began in 2019 as an annual gathering of Subaru owners and enthusiasts. Managed by SubieEvents LLC, it connects the community with performance shops, parts vendors and Subaru. The festival combines car displays, driving activities and family entertainment, giving visitors opportunities to meet other enthusiasts and explore products and services for their vehicles.