Young Americans for Freedom and Tau Kappa Epsilon displayed American flags Monday in Dunn Meadow to honor the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
“Placing one of those flags in the ground and recognizing that’s a person is pretty heart-wrenching,” senior and YAF chairman Andrew Ireland said.
Rain and mud kept the group from having its annual demonstration Friday. Ireland said it was important that the event continue despite the inclement weather.
“Just because it rained, we don’t want to stop honoring the people,” Ireland said.
There were 2,977 flags in the meadow. Usually, the victim count is totaled to 2,997, but Ireland said the number YAF uses does not include the lives of the terrorists who caused the attacks.
While YAF usually focuses on activism for conservative values, the Sept. 11 memorial is an opportunity to reflect on the event and effects of radical terrorism on the United States, Ireland said.
“It commemorates how our nation used to be in unity, and I think it still is on this day,” senior and YAF member Hanna Bedricky said.
Bedricky, who was in first grade when the attacks happened, said this is an important opportunity for students to reflect upon the event’s effect.
Some students may be from New York City and find a connection with the flags in the meadow, Bedricky said.
Ireland’s own memories of Sept. 11 are tied closely to a time in his life.
His school, in Evansville, Indiana, went on lockdown, but he said as a kindergartner, he had a difficult time grasping what was happening.
Ireland’s brother had been born the day before, and it wasn’t until visiting his mother and new sibling in the hospital that he was finally able to learn the full story of 9/11.
He said he now associates the two events with one another.
“It’s a memory that’s been burned in my mind for a long time, and it’s something I reflect on often,” Ireland said.
Although he remembers the day, Ireland said he thinks the memorial is important for those who do not. When they begin to understand that each flag represents a life, it becomes a magical moment for Ireland to see.
“I don’t think a lot of people realize how many individuals died,” Ireland said.
