Dozens of runners and walkers gathered outside Basehor's Rusty Wagon coffeehouse with flags in hand, part of a tribute that started with one firefighter and a question nobody had really answered before. The movement is called Carry the Flag, and it was started by Chris Maleta, a firefighter with Consolidated Fire District 2 who never expected his personal ritual to become something dozens of strangers now show up for.
Maleta was supposed to attend a 9/11 stair climb two years before the event, but a fellow firefighter's simple question — whether he planned to go — stuck with him more than the climb itself did, according to KCTV. He ultimately did not attend that stair climb because of his daughter's volleyball game, the station reports, and instead began running with a flag about a year and a half before publication. He said he started Carry the Flag without knowing what it would become.
From One Runner to a Nationwide Movement
What began as one man's private tribute has since become a nationwide movement, per the same account. In January, Maleta changed the framing of his effort from “Who's going to carry the flag?” to “I carry the flag,” turning a question into a personal commitment that others could adopt as their own. Carry the Flag Saturdays now encourage people around the country to run, walk, or simply place a flag outside their homes.
The movement has expanded well beyond firefighters. It includes family members of 9/11 victims, military members who served overseas, and people affected by lingering health effects tied to the 2001 attacks, the station notes. At Saturday's Basehor gathering, people shared stories about relatives killed in helicopter crashes during the Vietnam War, others lost in Vietnam more broadly, and firefighters who died of cancer years after their service.
A Coat That Carries Its Own Weight
Maleta wore his old fire coat at the Saturday event, a garment he says represents the firefighters who died on September 11, 2001, and everyone who lost someone that day. He organized Carry the Flag Saturdays before the Fourth of July and said he did not realize the depth and strength of the message until he saw how many people it reached, the station reports.
Maleta's own path to the fire service wound through more than one state. He worked 15 years at Kansas City, Kansas Fire before leaving for North Carolina, where he worked as a beach firefighter, and later returned to the Kansas City area after a family medical emergency, according to KCTV.
Rooted in a Small Kansas Town
Carry The Flag USA is officially headquartered in Basehor, coordinating nationwide apparel distribution, flag outreach, and event organization from the small Leavenworth County community, per the organization's own Carry The Flag policy pages. The Rusty Wagon, where Saturday's gathering took place, operates as a community coffeehouse and social venue on State Avenue in Basehor, according to the Basehor Chamber of Commerce. Maleta's employer, Consolidated Fire District No. 2, holds a Class 1 ISO rating and provides fire protection and emergency medical services to eight municipalities across Northeast Johnson County, according to Consolidated Fire District No. 2.
Beyond the physical runs, Carry The Flag USA produces a podcast. Maleta's own Facebook posts describe a $320 donation from a shirt collaboration to a family facing medical expenses. That charitable dimension mirrors the growing scale of 9/11's long-term toll: more than 600 firefighters have died from World Trade Center–related toxic exposure illnesses in the 25 years since the attacks, nearly double the 343 FDNY firefighters killed on September 11, 2001, according to the International Association of Fire Fighters.
A National Health Crisis Still Unfolding
The federal World Trade Center Health Program now monitors and treats more than 145,000 enrolled 9/11 responders and survivors nationwide, with tens of thousands facing certified cancer and respiratory conditions, per the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. That program is authorized and funded through 2090 to guarantee zero-out-of-pocket medical care for certified 9/11-related conditions, according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The 2001 attacks killed 2,977 people total, including 343 firefighters, figures the KCTV report cites in framing why remembrance efforts like Maleta's continue to resonate a quarter-century later.
Carry The Flag joins a broader landscape of Kansas City-area 9/11 tributes, including climbs at Kauffman Stadium and Arrowhead Stadium. Carry The Flag opens participation to everyday community members and grieving families, whatever their connection to service or loss.
People interested in future runs or walks can visit the Carry the Flag USA website or search “Carry the Flag USA” on social media, according to the station's report.
