Flag Day

In the United States Flag Day is celebrated on June 14. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States, which happened that day by resolution of the Second Continental Congress in 1777.  The United States Army also celebrates the Army Birthday on this date; Congress adopted "the American continental army" after reaching a consensus position in the Committee of the Whole on June 14, 1775.

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14 as Flag Day; in August 1949, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress.

When I visited New York City a year after 9/11, it was very hard not to notice the amount of American flags flying around the city.

These flags were flying around the pit where the Twin Towers had once stood.

This is the memorial that was set up across the street which listed the names of those killed on 9/11.  People left items and lots of flags.

My biggest memories about the American flag are these:

• I attended so many movies at a base theater and before the previews and the movie began, the Star Spangled Banner would play and everyone would stand in silence and cross our hearts or if in uniform the would salute.  It was always a very silent and solemn event and there was never the yelling that takes place at so many venues these days.
• I remember while living in Japan that if you were on base at 4:30 p.m., speakers would come on and play the National Anthem to retire the colors.  People would stop their cars and military personnel would get out and stand at attention.
• I remember every morning in our classrooms at school we always said the Pledge of Allegiance and had a Bible scripture read.

I feel very honored to have grown up and been taught to respect the flag.  I feel very fortunate also to have seen the original flag - The Star Spangled Banner - in the Smithsonian (see Star Spangled Banner Day  posting).  I've also had the opportunity to see the flag that hung at the Pentagon (see The Death of Osama Bin Laden posting)when it was hit on 9/11.  While in Philadelphia, I visited the home of Betsy Ross who sewed our first American flag.

But the time when I appreciate the flag the most, and have stood and wept at the sight, is when flags have been placed on the graves of soldiers who have died during war.  The most poignant time was when Joe and I observed all the flagged graves at the Andersonville cemetery one year.  Seeing all those hundreds of flags was unbelievable when you realize the story behind the cemetery.

I only wish that people would respect the flag they way I was taught to do so. 

The Death of Osama Bin Laden

History was made last night when President Barak Obama announced that Osama Bin Laden is dead. After a firefight in Pakistan, where he had been hiding, a small team of American forces killed Bin Laden and took possession of his body. His death came 15 years after he declared war on the U.S. Al-Qaida was also responsible for the 1998 bombings of two American embassies in Africa that killed 224 people and the 2000 attack on the U.S.S. Cole that killed 24 soldiers in Yemen, as well as countless other plots, some that were successful and some that were not.

When I heard the news it caused me to think back on my remembrances that I have of 9/11. I wrote about it in a blog entitled "My 9/11 Memories" dated 9/11/08. What a sad and awful day that was and the following days where spent in trying to absorb the shock of what had happened in our country.

I always considered myself fortunate that I had the opportunity to see "Ground Zero" and the surrounding neighborhoods when I visited New York City about a year after 9/11. Even a year later, the scars of that day were still visible.

Then some time later I had the opportunity to go to Washington, D.C. for a meeting. What a privilege it was for me to be able to touch the flag that draped the Pentagon after it was hit by a plane that same day.

The Pentagon flag was originally unfurled from the roof of the Pentagon on Sept. 12, 2001, when President George W. Bush arrived to view the damage from the Sept. 11 attacks. The flag hung at the Pentagon for 30 days before being lowered and folded with full military honors on Oct. 11, 2001.The Pentagon garrison flag came to the Museum on loan from the U.S. Army Center of Military History and was displayed where the original Star-Spangled Banner once hung.

The September 11 attacks, often referred to as September 11th or 9/11, were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the buildings. Both towers collapsed within two hours, destroying nearby buildings and damaging others. The hijackers crashed a third airliner into The Pentagon in Arlingto, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Pennsylvania after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, D.C., to target either the Capitol Building or the White House. There were no survivors from any of the flights.

Nearly 3,000 victims and the 19 hijackers died in the attacks. According to the New York State Health Department, 836 responders, including firefighters and police personnel, have died as of June 2009. Among the 2,752 victims who died in the attacks on the World Trade Center were 343 firefighters and 60 police officers from New York City and the Port Authority. Another 184 people were killed in the attack on the Pentagon. The overwhelming majority of casualties were civilians, including nationals of over 70 countries. In addition, there was at least one secondary death—one person was ruled by a medical examiner to have died from lung disease due to exposure to dust from the collapse of the World Trade Center.

I will always remember 9/11 as it was a living history for me. When my grandson reads about 9/11 it will be history read from a book. It will be no different than my son who read about the Vietnam War in a book when that was living history for me also. What will the death of Osama Bin Laden mean for the future? No one knows and only time will tell. I may be writing about something that someone did as revenge for his death one of these days. I hope not. I hope that nothing that tramatic ever strikes the U.S. ever again.

-------------------------------------------My friend Tricia who was with me at the Smithsonian and touched the Pentagon flag also reminded me today that we also saw a melted phone that had been on the plane that hit the Pentagon.

My 9/11 memories

There are moments in our lives when you can remember exactly where you were and what you were doing and no matter what, you will most likely never forget those moments.

For example, I can remember the details about when Kennedy was shot. I can remember man landing on the moon and I can certainly remember the events of September 11, 2001.

I remember I was getting ready for work and was supposed to drive to Valdosta to visit some childcare providers. I was going in late as I was waiting for Dad to come by the house. I was watching the news when I saw the first plane crash into the first tower. I went outside when I heard Dad drive up, told him what had just happened and he came into my bedroom and watched the news with me. Mom called me sometime in between to ask if I was watching the news. It was about that time that we saw the next plane hit the second tower. I remember seeing all this unfold on television like a bad movie, but it was real. (The above picture shows the twin towers before the attacks).

Eventually I headed on to work, but upon my return home, I couldn't stop watching the news. I stayed up most of the night and couldn't stop crying. There was the loss of some many people. So many missing people. So many sad stories. So many things that would never be right ever again. It was such a horrible event that just kept unfolding hour upon hour on every news channel.

In November of 2002, I had to go to New York City for a childcare training in Harlem. I arrived at my hotel before noon and couldn't check into my room. So, I decided no time like the present to get in a little sightseeing. I took a cab to Battery Park to catch the ferry to Liberty Park and Ellis Island. (I had seen the Statute of Liberty off in the distance a couple of earlier times in my life, but this was the first time I'd been this close). Because of 9/11, the park service wouldn't let you go up into Lady Liberty, so I stayed on the ferry and went on over to Ellis Island. What a fantastic place to visit! There was a special exhibit taking place at this time. It was pictures and quotes/memories of 9/11 from the vantage point of Ellis Island. The displayed exhibit pictures were taken by people who were on Ellis Island looking across to downtown Manhattan. It was a very poignant display. One of things I remember was what happened to the seagulls which frequent Ellis Island. Apparently when the towers were burning and the sky began to turn black, all the seagulls landed on the Island and put their heads under their wings. Scientists believe that it wasn't necessarily the blackness of the sky that made them do that, but it was also that the birds seemed to sense something was wrong. There were pictures showing the seagulls with their tucked heads. It was just amazing to me that even nature was disrupted by all that was occurring.

After I landed back in Battery Park, I asked and was told how to reach Ground Zero. While walking through the park, I came upon a memorial. It is a large bronze sphere which once stood between the two Twin Towers as a symbol of global peace and now stands in the northern section of the park. The severely damaged sculpture was recovered from the rubble of the World Trade Center and transferred here later on. Together with an eternal flame, it is serves as a memorial to the victims of 9/11.
This was taken showing the outside of Ground Zero and the crowds that were hoping for a glimpse into the pit.
My first look into the pit. It was very large, very deep and even after a year since the attacks, you could see the surrounding buildings with smoke scars on their sides. There still were some surrounding damaged buildings.
Across the street from Ground Zero is Trinity Church. This historic Episcopal church managed to stand while the twin towers crumbled around it on September 11, 2001; however the historic pipe organ was severely damaged by dust and debris and had to be replaced.

The gates to the historic church were serving as an impromptu memorial to the victims of 9/11, with countless tokens of remembrance left by both locals and visitors alike. All the names of those who were killed were on this very long sheet of paper. You could read comments written by several of the names and people had left various flowers and items.

The strange thing about being here at this location was that although you were in the middle of New York City, people spoke in hushed tones and the whole atmosphere was muted. I guess people just realized that they were basically looking at or were in the vicinity of a mass graveyard since many of the remains of victims were never found.

I'm glad I had the opportunity to visit Ground Zero, especially after seeing it on the television so many times. It made me appreciate my life even more and I realized that life can certainly change in the matter of a very few minutes.