The Story of the Ground Zero Flag (9/11/01)
The Story of the Ground Zero Flag (9/11/01)
The flag came from the yacht Star of America, owned by Shirley Dreifus and her husband Spiros E. Kopelakis, which was docked in the yacht basin in the Hudson River at the World Financial Center. McWilliams cut the yardarm from the yacht with a K12 Saw and then took the flag and its pole from the yacht to an evacuation area on the northwest side of the site. They found a pole about 20 feet off the ground jutting from a pile of debris thought to have been from the grounds of the Marriott World Trade Center hotel, situated adjacent to the towers.
Soon after its raising above Ground Zero, the flag disappeared. The city thought it had possession of the flag after the attack; Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and George Pataki signed it, and it flew at the New York City Hall, Yankee Stadium and on the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) during its service in the Mideast.
However, when the flag's owner prepared to formally donate the flag, it was discovered that it was not the flag from Ground Zero. There was a size discrepancy: the yacht's flag measured 4 by 6 feet , while the flag the city had measured 5 by 8 feet. A 2013 CNN documentary film, The Flag, directed by filmmakers Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein, investigated the mystery of this missing 9/11 icon and discovered video evidence that the flag went missing hours after it was first raised.
The original flag was recovered as a result of a lead gathered following the airing of the History Channel's Brad Meltzer's Lost History in 2014. A number of scientists have now verified that the flag is authentic, and it was unveiled on Sunday, September 11, 2016, the 15th anniversary of 9/11, on a History Channel special on the flag, America's 9/11 Flag: Rise From the Ashes. Today, the flag is now inside the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
Remembering September 11th, 2001
USA Warrior Stories producer Ross Rowlinson and Richard Payne talk about iconic Firemen Raising the Flag at Ground Zero image, maritime rescue efforts, remembrance, and honoring first responders and victims for the 25th anniversary of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attack in New York.