WASHINGTON – Some bring flowers to the Pentagon in memory of those who died Sept. 11 and to honor those who now fight the war against terrorism. But on Monday, ice cream arrived – compliments of Gifford’s Famous Ice Cream and Shaw’s Supermarkets of Maine.

Monday’s visit to the Pentagon wrapped up a four-day trip organized by local ice cream titans John and Roger Gifford and other company employees who hauled 12 tons of “Stars and Stripes” ice cream in a two-truck caravan all the way from their family-owned plant in Skowhegan. The group also made stops at the Augusta Maine Armory and in New York City where they scooped out treats for workers at Ground Zero and firefighters at local Manhattan fire departments.

By Monday afternoon at the Pentagon, the Gifford brothers figured they had dished out tens of thousands of servings to military and emergency service personnel during their 700-mile trip. It’s just their way to say thank you in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said John Gifford.

“As a family and as a company, we just wanted to do something for these people,” he said. “It’s easy sometimes to take things for granted, but Sept. 11 was a wake-up call to be grateful for what we all have.”

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and members of her staff pitched in at the Pentagon to help scoop out servings and was credited by John Gifford for helping to get approval for Monday’s event.

Collins arrived with personal scooper in hand and dug right in as thousands of Defense Department employees patiently waited in the central courtyard for a taste of Maine.

“It’s amazing. They gave out enough ice cream for 100,000 servings,” Collins said, adding with a smile, “as long as people don’t eat as much ice cream as I’d like to.”

Shaw’s Supermarkets Inc. assisted Gifford’s efforts by providing a refrigerated tractor-trailer truck and driver for the trip to New York and Washington.