An Experience of Healing
The Colonial Flag Foundation team works year round coordinating Healing Field and Field of Honor displays around the country.
Memorial Day, Independence Day, Veterans Day and other days chosen to honor a variety of causes fill the calendar each year. Many occasions inspire local groups to post appropriate displays of the Stars and Stripes. Even so, one date stands out from the rest, September 11th. After all, that is the inspiration and motivation behind it all. A day so filled with meaning that just the mention of two numbers is all that is needed: Nine Eleven.
Being the tenth commemoration of the 9/11 attacks, this year’s observance is especially significant. Twenty-two Healing Field and Field of Honor flag displays will rise in fourteen states from Florida to Maine, from Massachusetts to Montana, from Idaho to Arizona & New Mexico. Five Fields will be posted in New York State alone with one New York’s Battery Park located just blocks of Ground Zero. In Sandy, Utah, at the site of the first Healing Field, three thousand U.S. flags will fly on the grassy promenade to the South of City Hall. Check our website at the link http://www.healingfield.org/sandy-ut-2011/ for details.
Amid our own enthusiasm, the crew at Colonial Flag Foundation shares the palpable excitement reported by local host committees. Shipments of thousands of flags arriving gather eager volunteers anxious to assemble flags and poles. When all is ready, they post their flags painting grassy fields with red, white and blue. Few expect the emotional impact bringing a sense of optimism and healing. Walking among rows of ordered flags visitors recognize the extent of the loss while finding hope amid the tragedy. A visit to any one of these massive flag displays reveals that the adjective “healing” describes reality. The experience indeed brings a feeling of healing.
