Almost 2,300 Flags Commemorate Victims Of 9/11 Attacks
As darkness fell over the nation's capital Wednesday night,
about 200 volunteers busily posted nearly 3,000 full-sized American
flags near the site of the Pentagon Memorial to be officially
dedicated Thursday, the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist
attacks.
One by one, the volunteers positioned the flags, each honoring a
victim who died at terrorists' hands at the Pentagon, the World
Trade Center in New York and in a field at Shanksville, PA.
Fluttering from 184 of the flags were ribbons with the names of
those killed when American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the West
side of the Pentagon. Fifty-nine of the victims were aboard the
aircraft, the other 125 were Pentagon employees.
"[Osama] bin Laden thought he could change the face of America
that day," said Lori Oakason, programs director for the Healing
Field Foundation that sponsored the display. "And he did: more
flags are flying today than ever before."
Oakason called the effort -- one being duplicated tonight at
several other sites around the United States for September 11
observances -- an important way for America to heal from the wounds
of 9-11. "There's a hopeful, helpful way to heal, and keeping pride
in America and keeping America's flags flying is the most healing
thing we can do as Americans," she said.
The flag display, sponsored by the nonprofit Healing Field
Foundation, provided a patriotic backdrop to the Pentagon Memorial
dedication. The ceremony began at 8:00 am, with the reading of the
names of the 184 men, women and children killed at the site,
following by the ringing of a bell after each name.
A moment of silence followed at 9:37
am, when the jet rammed into the Pentagon.
Paul Swenson, chairman and founder of the Healing Field
Foundation, said his organization wants to keep the memory of what
happened on 9-11 alive. "These were just people going to work that
day, not expecting anything out of the ordinary, and then the world
changed," Swenson said. "We don't want people to ever forget that
moment."
The Healing Field isn't a political statement, he said...
but a way to remember those who were killed, as well as troops
serving in harm's way in the war on terror that followed the 9-11
attacks.
David Arthur, a Washington Headquarters Services staffer who
helped coordinate the event, said the 2,298 flags provided a
dramatic addition to Thursday's Pentagon Memorial dedication,
paying tribute to those killed at all three 9-11 crash sites. "This
pays homage to everybody who was killed that day," he said. "It's
important that we appreciate and remember everyone who died in the
attack."
Still others, like Ludmila Baraban, a college senior in
Washington for an internship, had no direct ties to the Pentagon or
the 9-11 attacks.
"This is a very symbolic moment, and I came because I wanted to
be part of something really, really big," Baraban said. "Being here
makes me very proud of my country, how we reacted to 9-11 and came
together as a country and how our leaders have kept us strong."
The Healing Field was to be taken down Thursday night.
(Aero-News thanks Donna Miles, American Forces Press
Service)