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Bald Eagle raises flag in remembrance of 9/11

WINGATE -- Students gathered in front of the Bald Eagle High School to witness the raising of the Freedom Flag in remembrance of 9/11.

High School Principal John Tobias gave a brief introduction once all of the students were standing within view of the flagpole.

"The skies usually part for events like this at Bald Eagle," he joked, pleased the forecasted rain held out for the remembrance ceremony.

Tobias welcomed their speaker to the podium while other staff members held the flag aloft for all to see.

The speaker was 11th-grade student Alexa Thomas, who spoke in front of the entire school and gave the history of the flag.

"The Freedom Flag was created in Virginia by Richard Melito in the days following 9/11 as a symbol for patrons of his restaurant to remember the events of the day. The flag is now being flown throughout the nation in honor of victims, heroes and survivors of that day," said Thomas.

She described to her fellow students the 10 elements of the flag and what significance they had.

The flag is made up of two broad red stripes representing the Twin Towers and the bloodshed of those who had perished in the World Trade Center, on American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175.

The top red stripe represents the bloodshed of those lost at the Pentagon and the crew and passengers on American Airlines Flight 77; the bottom red stripe represents the bloodshed of the crew and passengers who perished on United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania.

The three white stripes represent rescue workers, firefighters, police officers, Port Authority employees and others who worked tirelessly during and after the terrorist attacks.

The blue background represents all Americans united for freedom, while the white star represents all those who lived and died for freedom.

The five white bars that surround the white star represent the Pentagon and the organized protection of our freedom.

Following the speech, Thomas called for a moment of silence before informing her classmates that their school was honored to have a piece of the World Trade Center on display in the hallway in front of the Attendance Office.

"This artifact was part of column 206, on floors 92-95 of the North Tower, World Trade Center 1," said Thomas.

The part of the column is displayed in a handmade case in the hallway, made by the school’s Wood Technology Instructor, Andrew Markle.

"He did a great job. I just drew a quick sketch for him, and said I wanted it to look like this with glass. I think I had it within a week," said Tobias.

Inside the case, the Freedom Flag is proudly displayed behind a shelf housing information on the artifact, with the artifact itself displayed below.

Thomas has been a part of this process for a long time, having been part of the History Club that brought up the Freedom Flag initially. She'd attended a board meeting the previous year to ask for permission to raise the flag at their school. According to the Winter/Spring 2023 Bald Eagle Area School District Newsletter, the school board approved the History Club's request in February.

Barbara Young, a Gifted Support Teacher, helped to facilitate the event. Though she had not been part of the initial planning, she and one of her students, Lilly Nyman, pushed for the initiative.

"I contacted the Freedom Flag Foundation, John Riley told me about an educational initiative they have where they have a beam from the World Trade Center that has been cut into pieces that are loaned to school districts for a year or two years, with the idea that those districts will use it for educational purposes," said Young.

The Freedom Flag is the nation's only codified 9/11 flag of remembrance, and it has been flown or displayed in nearly 2,000 schools, fire stations and civic buildings and in all 50 states.

Nyman was unable to attend that morning due to illness, but Young indicated that Nyman will be contacting state and national representatives to push for the Freedom Flag to be recognized as a nationwide state flag of remembrance.

According to the Freedom Flag Foundation, Approximately 80 million children have been born in the US since 9/11, meaning that over 20 percent of the population has no living memory of 9/11.

Bald Eagle Area School District received five 9/11 Freedom Flags from the Freedom Flag Foundation to be flown annually on Patriot Day below the US Flag through September, along with a WTC Steel artifact recovered from Tower 1 at Ground Zero in New York City.

The school also received a copy of "Unfurling the Freedom Flag -- A 9/11 Story," by teacher and author Tara R. Krohn.

The school will have the piece of steel column loaned to them for a year, potentially two years.