MANCHESTER, Mo. – Smoke engulfing the Twin Towers is an image seared in minds all over the world. Americans are still deeply grieving the loss of thousands of lives and supporting those who survived the horrific 9/11 attacks 23 years later.
The Flags of Valor—Manchester Remembers 9/11 event is a week-long tribute where 413 flags are installed throughout Stoecker Park in Manchester. Each flag represents the first responders who died in the attacks.
Bonnie Krueger, a member of the Manchester Veterans Commission and a mother of two local first responders, told FOX 2, “(The servicemen) still went up those towers, and they knew they may not come back down, and they didn’t… many of them.”
Six photo panels of plane passengers who perished are also displayed. Wednesday night a remembrance ceremony was held featuring live music, a memorial table ceremony, and testimony from Krista Salvatore, a 9/11 survivor.
Krista recounted that she arrived in Manhattan for an internship at a company within the Twin Towers two days before the attack. She was in a training seminar when the first plane struck the tower next to hers. She spoke of being stuck on one of the 60th floors, feeling a catastrophic boom before ignoring announcements that the South Tower was safe, and running for her life down the stairs with the other trainees.
“I’m going as fast as I can down, and firefighters are going up the stairs—two or three stairs at a time. I just remember making eye contact with them, and I’ll never forget the looks in their eyes. They knew what they were doing, and they were determined. The look of determination and courage. They were going as fast as they could into a burning building to save lives; they are true heroes,” she said.
The ceremony’s message was to inspire Americans to continually uphold the patriotism and unity our nation embraced in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001.
Rick Randall, president of America’s Heartland Remembers, the organization behind the instillation, commented, “Our country would be way better off today if we were all like we were on Sept. 12, 2001. We were all together, we were holding hands, we were crying together, we were mourning together, and we had a resolve together… I think this day and age obviously that’s somewhat lost, but I think on 9/11 we can try to remember what it felt like on 9/12 and see if we can recreate that on more than one day.”
Krista said she found purpose in her two children, “It’s just amazing how things work and how joy is brought back into your life.”
The displays are open for viewing through Sunday at Stoecker Park, and the public is highly encouraged to visit and participate, quietly reflect, or bring out someone who wasn’t alive at the time and make it an educational moment.
