Posted on 11/27/2001 3:56:44 AM PST by rightwingextremist1776
A US flag, signed by the relatives and friends of victims of terrorist strikes that levelled the World Trade Centre in New York, will soon be flying high at a camp of Marines now in Afghanistan.
Traumatised by the worst terrorist attacks ever perpetrated on US soil, and carried away in a wave of patriotism, Americans have found a means of expression for their pain by flying the flags in the wake of the September 11 attacks that left around 4,300 dead and missing.
The star-spangled banner, which will be sent to Afghanistan on Thursday, was entrusted to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit by officers of the New York Police Department, New York spokesman for the Marines, Captain Jaret Heil said.
"Some of their people that went down with the building were former Marines," Heil said of the police officers. "They wanted us to have it because the Marines Corps is the first one" into Afghanistan.
"They wanted this flag to be with the people that are paying back for September 11, and that's the Marines Corps," he said.
The US-led war on Afghanistan's Taliban militia was launched in response to their harbouring of Osama bin Laden, the suspected international terrorist believed to have carried out the attacks.
The names of 27 police officers lost in the wreckage of the World Trade Center were the first to be inscribed in black felt pen on the flag, which was tied to a rescue command post at Ground Zero, the site of the flattened twin towers.
As visits were slowly allowed at Ground Zero, the piece of material became an outlet for the grief and rage felt by victims' family members in response to the attacks.
Vincent Danz wrote of his brother, a former Marine dead in the attacks aged 38, "My brother is on the pile."
"For my sons ... they gave their lives doing what they loved - helped others," wrote the mother or father of Joseph Viagiano, a 34-year-old policeman, and John Viagiano, 36, a fire fighter at the scene on the day of the strikes. "God bless them and all their 'brothers.'"
Other messages are more aggressive.
Policeman Bill Dinkelacker wrote: "Those colours don't run! For all the victims of terrorists attacks: give them hell!"
Tom Whalen, another police officer, writes directly to Osama bin Laden. "Benny, may the last breath you take be spent looking at this flag."
The flag is going to a base set up at the weekend by Marines, near an airstrip at Kandahar, the only city in southern Afghanistan still controlled by the Taliban. WTC flag sent to Kandahar
"This flag is going to the guys on the ground. Eventually it's gonna come back: the NYPD wants this flag back, after they're done in Afghanistan," says Heil. "The NYPD want to set it up in some type of memorial."
Another flag sent from the ruins of the World Trade Centre has been flying at the stern of a US warship in the Arabian Gulf.
I know it was well-intentioned. And no, it's not a huge deal. (Much smaller than I expressed earlier and a fellow FReeper pointed out.) I'm just disappointed that the "patriotic fervor" could be expressed in a way that didn't include writing on our flag, that's all.
>I was discussing this with my sis, an AF ROTC cadet, and I maintained that all these raggedy flags still waving from peoples cars do not dishonor this country, but instead are a compliment. Did they take down the Star-spangled banner when it was shot up right away? No, the symbolism was greater to have this hole-studded flag waving in the breeze. Ditto for the scrawled messages on the WTC flag.
I'm sure they didn't intentionally put the holes in the flag. < sarcasm > Even if they did, I'm sure they were patriotic when the did it < /sarcasm>. Seriously though, I'm the first one in line supporting patriotism. And I forgive their ignorance of flag etiquitte. But personally, I prefer they respectfully burned the damaged flag at a time that was convenient, given the circumstances.
I had a initial reaction similar to your first inclination. Even though it didn't (at least I don't think it did) ride a tower down, this flag has special significance. And it's undeniable that on the surface it appears to have been defiled. Each of us will ultimately have to decide for ourselves, but I'm going to give the signers the benefit of the doubt here. It is my feeling that each of them were feeling strong emotions when they signed the flag in a way that they probably thought imbued the strongest heartfelt support for this nation.
I almost feel as if these people were signators to a document, a symbol that stated they cherished this nation and were reaffirming their devotion to it and to the very flag they signed. It's almost as if they were signing an oath of renewal. And symbolically I think they signed it for you and I as well. Were they right to do so. Hey, you and I are probably going to wind up saying no. It was a mistake. Then again there may be days when we will find those signatures from the crater of terrorism to be very moving.
That flag is now headed to the Mideast. It's also headed into the sacred halls that house our nation's most valued possessions. I think it will mean a lot to all men and women who see it in the future. Asking myself how I'd feel if I looked upon it over there as a troop in the field, I had to admit that it might seem even more touching to see the names of my fellow countrymen on it. This flag is going to carry a lot of feeling behind it. It's going to touch on core values. It's a flag that will long remain a symbol of our loses, our devotion and our resolve. We may have to throw out the rule book on this one. They don't always make room for every situation. And I think we can agree this is a unique situation.
If I saw that flag pristine as the day it was manufactured, it would stand in stark contrast to the site it looked down on. It would seem out of place, almost unfitting. It almost has to be soiled to remind us of where it was. And if I saw it blank, I'm not sure it would carry the meaning that it would with hundreds if not thousands of signatures of my fellow countrymen on it. If I saw it hanging on a wall in an museum, I'd probably feel completely different than I would if I were standing in the theater of combat seeing the heartfelt signatures of my fellow countrymen back home.
This is one that's going to hit everyone differently. I think there's merits to both sides. I myself am going to probably waver on this one. There will be times when I'll be upset that it has the signatures on it, and there will be times when it will hit me between the eyes because it did.
Let's remember that this has been a terrorist event that has hit the common man more than any other terrorist event in our history. It has touched us all. Perhaps it's highly appropriate for one of it's symbol's to carry the names of a symbolic few that felt the same emotions that the rest of us have felt. Perhaps the sterile pristine flag would be the real sacrilege here. I cannot say.
If I am right, the proper etiquette for this flag is going to transcend the normal protocol for a flag. It has become something much more than simply a symbol of our nation. It has become a symbol of who and what we are. It is truly for the people, by the people and of the people. Perhaps as flawed and yet noble as we ourselves sometimes are, this flag is even more fitting today than it was before it was signed. Who's to know?
MGBA
Dittos from me too!!
Semper Fi,
Norb
Very good!! ROFLMAO!!
Ducks
Look, you're not far off base in my opinion. This nation has suffered an incredible lowering of standards in the last fifty years. Sadly white trash seems more the norm than the exception these days. It's our education system as far as I am concerned. They do not instill respect for anything except those miraculous teachers. (GAG)
You really did a good job on this one. I think you are stating what many American patriots feel deep inside.
Thanks,
Norb
Differing Opinions on thisOohRahHere!
Dick Gaines
The marking, if done at all, should have stayed off the white areas, where the contrast was maintained with the stars and the stripes.
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