thedrifter
09-09-06, 02:15 PM
"Flag City" Hosts Field of Flags as Remembrance of 9-11
Sep 8, 2006 04:54 PM
FINDLAY -- Northwest Ohio's "Flag City" is home to a fitting reminder of those who sacrificed so much on 9-11, and to those who continue to keep us safe today. It's called the "Healing Field," a field of hundreds of flags, each carefully set in the ground to represent some one killed in the terror attacks.
Monday is the 5 year anniversary of the day terrorists took control of US airliners, and crashed two of them into the World Trade Center in New York City, crashed another into the Pentagon in Washington, DC, and crashed a third into an empty farm field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Passengers on that plane reportedly took control of it, and the terrorists crashed it in the field. Had they not done that, the plane target was reportedly going to be the White House. Almost 3,000 people were killed in the attacks.
The "Healing Field" is now gracing an area on the Findlay campus of Owens Community College. It's open for anyone to stroll through day or night over the next few days. It's a solemn process. Set the stakes, plant a flag, then salute hundreds of times over as volunteers put up almost 3,000 flags. Behind each one is a remembered victim, an honored first responder.
Fresh as it all is in our minds, there are those now coming of age who barely remember. "I remember that day. I was in school during it," said Joey Claes, a scout who helped plant the flags. He was just seven when the attacks happened, so the details are lost to him, which is why another generation feels it important to guard the memory.
"The majority of the population don't realize what's been sacrificed for them," said Ron Weyer of the Marine Corps League.
Lieutenant Scott Estep's Civil Air Patrol cadets volunteered to help put together the two truckloads of flags. "A lot of these kids were quite young when it happened, and during the war. So this is all quite new to them," said Lt. Estep. "So this allows them to see the magnitude of what's going on through the flags that will be displayed here."
There's a more direct benefit. Money raised by the "Healing Field" will go toward the very ones being honored. "The Young Marines, the Civil Air Patrol, the Salvation Army, Red Cross," said Sandy Davidson, the event coordinator. "There's a number of people that will benefit."
The field is mute testimony to a terrible sacrifice, and heartfelt thanks to those still serving.
Posted by AEB
Ellie
Sep 8, 2006 04:54 PM
FINDLAY -- Northwest Ohio's "Flag City" is home to a fitting reminder of those who sacrificed so much on 9-11, and to those who continue to keep us safe today. It's called the "Healing Field," a field of hundreds of flags, each carefully set in the ground to represent some one killed in the terror attacks.
Monday is the 5 year anniversary of the day terrorists took control of US airliners, and crashed two of them into the World Trade Center in New York City, crashed another into the Pentagon in Washington, DC, and crashed a third into an empty farm field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Passengers on that plane reportedly took control of it, and the terrorists crashed it in the field. Had they not done that, the plane target was reportedly going to be the White House. Almost 3,000 people were killed in the attacks.
The "Healing Field" is now gracing an area on the Findlay campus of Owens Community College. It's open for anyone to stroll through day or night over the next few days. It's a solemn process. Set the stakes, plant a flag, then salute hundreds of times over as volunteers put up almost 3,000 flags. Behind each one is a remembered victim, an honored first responder.
Fresh as it all is in our minds, there are those now coming of age who barely remember. "I remember that day. I was in school during it," said Joey Claes, a scout who helped plant the flags. He was just seven when the attacks happened, so the details are lost to him, which is why another generation feels it important to guard the memory.
"The majority of the population don't realize what's been sacrificed for them," said Ron Weyer of the Marine Corps League.
Lieutenant Scott Estep's Civil Air Patrol cadets volunteered to help put together the two truckloads of flags. "A lot of these kids were quite young when it happened, and during the war. So this is all quite new to them," said Lt. Estep. "So this allows them to see the magnitude of what's going on through the flags that will be displayed here."
There's a more direct benefit. Money raised by the "Healing Field" will go toward the very ones being honored. "The Young Marines, the Civil Air Patrol, the Salvation Army, Red Cross," said Sandy Davidson, the event coordinator. "There's a number of people that will benefit."
The field is mute testimony to a terrible sacrifice, and heartfelt thanks to those still serving.
Posted by AEB
Ellie