A symbol of survival

LINCOLN — Tattered, torn and grimy from the blast of dirt and debris, an American flag that survived the 9/11 attacks was unfurled Thursday at the State Capitol.

The flag was flying at a building across the street from the World Trade Center when terrorists struck Sept. 11, 2001.

It was retrieved by a construction engineer who couldn’t bear to burn it, which is the acceptable way to retire a damaged flag that bore a gaping hole and had only 25 stars remaining.

Eventually, the flag was pieced back together by residents of a nursing home spared by a killer tornado May 4, 2007, in Greensburg, Kan.

They stitched pieces of nine other flags into the 9/11 flag — like a stars-and-stripes quilt — making the old flag whole again.

When the 32-by-17-foot flag was unfurled Thursday by a Boy Scout honor guard, the crowd of 130 people grew quiet. A rainy day gave way to recalling the horror of a bright, blue morning in New York in 2001.

Mitchell Snyder, an 18-year-old Eagle Scout from Lincoln, said the pieced-together flag symbolized what happened to America on 9/11.

“It kind of showed us that we would have to pull together, even if it wasn’t like it was before,” Snyder said.

The flag is being carried across the country as a symbol of resolve by the New York Says Thank You Foundation.

Volunteers with the foundation will carry the flag to the Boy Scout camp near Little Sioux, Iowa, for a remembrance ceremony today. Four Scouts were killed there last year in a tornado. The volunteers also will build a prayer chapel at the camp.

During the brief ceremony in Lincoln, Gov. Dave Heineman said the Scouts’ actions at Little Sioux most likely saved several lives. All Americans, he said, need to be prepared to respond to an emergency like 9/11 or the Little Sioux tornado.

A chaplain who accompanied the 9/11 flag, Steve Holden of Decatur, Ill., said it was unfurled Tuesday in Eagle Grove, Iowa, hometown of one of the Little Sioux victims, Aaron Eilerts.

One of Aaron’s pillowcases will be sewn on the border of the flag following the work at the Little Sioux camp.

The flag will ultimately be displayed at the World Trade Center memorial museum, which is under construction.

Contact the writer:

402-473-9584, paul.hammel@owh.com