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)

FMI: www.pentagon.mil