A Flag For Every Person

If organizers succeed, more than 3,000 Memorial Flags, each personalized with the name of a person lost on 9/11, will be flown in New York Harbor during “Sail for America” on Saturday, September 14, 2002. “One purpose of Sail for America is to remember the people who were lost,” says Michael Fortenbaugh, Chairman of the Organizing Committee. “Sailors from all over the nation are bringing their boats to New York Harbor. This will be the greatest gathering of sailboats in the history of our harbor.”

“As part of our mission to remember,” continues Mr. Fortenbaugh. “We hope to fly a personalized Memorial Flag to honor every person lost on 9/11. First, these flags will be flown in the harbor during Sail for America. Then, they will be given to the families. It is our hope that in 20 or 50 years, a child will open a box in an attic and pull out the flag and remember his or her connection to this singular event in our nation’s history.” Each Memorial Flag will measure 2 x 3 feet. They will be triangular pennants with a white background and a red and blue border. Each Memorial Flag will be printed with the name of one of the people lost on 9/11. More than 3,000 flags will be produced and flown in New York Harbor during Sail for America.

The idea for the Memorial Flags comes from Catherine DeRubbio who is married to a chief in the New York Fire Department. Her husband survived 9/11 but he lost his brother, Ms DeRubbio’s brother-in-law. When Ms. DeRubbio found out about Sail for America through the internet, she sent the following email to Mr. Fortenbaugh: “Dear Mr. Fortenbaugh, I am interested in having banners, flags or pennants in remembrance of the people killed at the WTC. My brother-in-law David was one of the firefighters and we also lost a lot of friends.”

Ms. DeRubbio’s idea was presented to the full Organizing Committee of Sail for America. With input from victims’ family groups, it was decided that this idea had great merit but that if one person or group was honored, everyone had to be honored. The Organizing Committee then began investigating the feasibility of having Memorial Flags made. The initial response from flag manufacturers was lukewarm because of the short lead time and large quantity. Then, Northeast Flags of Mountainside, NJ came to the rescue.

“Living in Summit and being very close to many victims, I cared very much and did a lot of fundraisers for the families,” said Chip Hillyer, President of Northeast Flags. “Once we heard about this idea, we knew it was something important. Also, our staff was very committed so we jumped in to make this happen. We have cleared the production schedule although it will be very tight. And we have figured out how to construct the flags for $12 each.” Northeast Flags has been in business for 12 years and is part of a company called CF Flags, the third largest flag manufacturer in the country.

Also see: all flags of the world

About The Author:

Don French is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.1st-in-flags.com. The flags of the world are symbols of recognition full of beauty and color for each country.