WTC Flag Raising & Memorial Petition Surpasses 200,000 Signatures!!!

It was four weeks ago that this petition was started in response to plans by the city of New York and the Fire Department officials there in New York to create a memorial to the fallen fire fighters of 9-11 that included an altered depiction of the flag raising that occurred at ground zero on that fateful day. The alteration attempted to change the ethnicity and physical appearance of those that did the flag raising to a "culturally diverse", "politically correct" version of events. It was a blatant attempt to project what some thought "should" have happened and what the event "should" have represented over what actually took place.

This attempt continues to strike a raw nerve in hundreds of thousands of citizens across this nation and the world (hundreds have signed from Canada, England, Australia, Germany and many other nations). I am sure of it were more widely known, it would strike that same raw nerve in tens of millions.

Revisionism like this occurred in totalitarian nations such as Stalin's Russia, or Hitler's Germany or Mao's China .... not in America. The people, despite eforts to the contrary, remember history and the untold death, misery and destruction those regimes caused and are unwilling to see our nation take such blatant steps in that same direction ... however couched, however prclaimed to be a result of "good intentions".

The liberty we enjoy in America is based on virtue and the truth. In order to make the responsible free will decisions that we make in this nation every day, we must have access to the truth and then act as moral agents on it.

Those politicians and planners and ideologs who proposed such an alteration are completely out of touch with the liberty and principles that make us all Americans. There attempts subvert the very foundational principles our Republic rests upon. Those three men who raised that flag did not do so as "whites" or "males" or any other descriptive term other than this one ... AMERICANS. The flag they raised represents us all, of all creeds, of all parties, of all ethnicities and races, of all genders. They raised it as a message to all, a message about our liberty and determination to maintain it in the face of the most appalling horror and dastardly attacks.

We have made progress in this effort. The city announced some time ago that they would not raise the altered statue. They have indicated that they now have other plans. There is no official word on what those other plans are as of yet.

Plans to deliver the first 120,000 signatures to New York in the next few days are well advanced. I should be picking up the six bound voulmes of signatures (about 450 pages each) and shipping them to firefighters in NYC within the next day or so. Those firefighters will then deliver the petition and signatures to the Mayors Office. I will then begin processing the next 130,000 names so that by the second installment, ONE QUARTER MILLION names will have been delivered.

I will follow that up with more sets of 125,000 names as they are completed, and so forth ... as long as I can and as long as needed.

I must thank everyone involved. Those who have signed, those who have spread the word, those who have unrelentingly kept the threads and the reports up here on FR and elsewhere on the internet, those who have prayed, and all of those who have donated any time or sent funds to help get these signatures to the City of New York. Most of all, in my faith, thanks to God in Heaven for His influence in helping this message spread abroad.

Now, perhaps we can take this same spirit and commitment and apply it one by one to the many other situations where the liberty this Republic was founded upon, and the principles that define it, are being relentlessly assailed by those who would destroy it, who would fashion it into something not at all resembling the original ... in a macro fashion of what was being done to the sdepiction of the flag raising.

I believe it is possible to thwart them. I do because of the heart warming, hope inspiring comments on the petition, from all over this country. If you want to feel the same way .... spend a few moments browsing the comments on the petition.

I will close again with one of my favortie comments on the petition, from signature 11497:

Here's an email I just got:

I completely disagree with your petition regarding the proposed statue to be raised at the site of the former World Trade Centers. Further, I am going to actively oppose it.
More important than the fact the flag was raised by Caucasian men is the fact it was raised by AMERICANS. If such an event is to be permanently commemorated through a statue, than it should be AMERICANS that are commemorated - and America is made up of whites, blacks, and browns. That's right - Europeans, Africans, Asians, Hispanics, and Middle-Easterns *ALL* make up this fine country, and an attack on one is an attack on all.
Many people died in that tragic event; not all of them were Caucasian. Many people helped after the fact; not all of them were Caucasian. They *all* should be recognized.
It is efforts like yours that keep racism running in our country. It's time we got past the color of skin and started recognizing that men are men regardless of skin color, and that Americans are Americans. Period.
Oh, and by the way - not that it matters, but I am a Caucasian male of European descent.

Amazing isn't it? This guy is guilty of his own accusation in demanding that the event be changed to insure his "all inclusive" ideas. If we are all Americans, regardless of skin color, etc (which we are), then why propose changing it to begin with? Folks like this don't even look at the rhetoric they are repeating to see how it contradicts itself.

Her is my response to this individual:

You are free to do as you please and actively support and promote whatever cause you desire as long as it violates no one's rights ... as am I.
Our ability to do this, and to do so in peace, is one of the strengths of this nation. So, knock yourself out.
Regarding this issue, let me just say this.
We are a diverse people, but in America we are also supposed to be a united people. That flag, that those three firemen raised, represents everyone of us. The planners needed look no further than the flag itself to see all races, sexes and cultures represented that come together to make us all Americans.
Quite frankly, I had never contemplated the ethnicity, race or gender of the firefighters who raised that flag until this issue was raised by the people proposing to change the depiction of the historic event. They are the ones who brought race into the equation. Until that time, it was enough that they were Americans, irrespective of whether they had been white, black, brown, red, yellow or any mix. Those three men had been fighting to find and save lives that day, just like there brother and sister personnel. They got it in their minds to raise the flag, they didn't do it for personal gain or reasons which is abundantly clear to anyone familiar with the event.
There is talk now of the these political and administrative planners not creating such a depiction of the statue. If this turns out to be so, then BRAVO that we have perhaps helped influence them towards what we consider to be a more correct decision. It is a shame that such pressure had to be brought to bear, but sadly, a reality of today's world.
In fact, they are now talking about looking at "different options" altogether. That's fine and I (and most people signing the petition) have no problem with another memorial being created to honor all of those who served ... only let it be an accurate depiction of what occurred that day. Ideas of revisionism and altering the historical record to influence opinion and fulfill political agendas are Stalinist and Maoist in nature and not consistent with the liberty we seek to uphold in this nation in my opinion, a liberty that must first and foremost be based upon integrity and the truth about events.
Until a final decision is reached and it is clear that they do not intend to attempt to revise history, we will keep up the pressure. So, we will therefore continue to email, call, tell others and point them all to the petition.
This is not about race ... it is about historical accuracy and the truth just like it says it is, whether you believe it or not, whether you agree with it or not. As I stated earlier, that's another great thing about our nation, we can disagree and seek and garner support on either side of the issue.
Sincerely,
Jeff Head
Emmett, ID

Forward to 1/4 million and the preservation of the truth as it happend on 9-11 at the WTC!

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