The Garden Of Reflection

Tribute Flag

TRIBUTE FLAG

The Tribute Flag was carried aboard three flights that flew over the September 11 crash sites. The flag symbolically brought the victims home as it flew during the Dedication Ceremony at the Garden of Reflection on September 30, 2006.

 

August 31, 2006

By Jeff Werner
Yardley News Editor

This week, an American flag is coming home to Bucks County after a symbolic journey that took it over the site of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and above a now tranquil field in western Pennsylvania.

The historic flight was organized by The Garden of Reflection 9-11 Memorial Dedication Committee as a way of forever linking the three sites with the garden memorial now under construction in Lower Makefield.

When it arrives back home, the 8- by 12-foot flag will find a home at the memorial where it will be flown during the official dedication ceremony on September 30. It will also be flown every September 11th and during special occasions.

“It’s like we’re taking them home,” said Grace Godshalk, of the 17 from Bucks County who lost their lives, including her own son, William. “Half the people at the World Trade Center were never identified, including my son. This (flag) will be like covering their coffins.”

“It shows respect and remembrance for everyone we lost and it ties together the whole memorial,” adds Ellen Saracini, whose husband Victor was piloting the second plane that was hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center. “And to me it just adds to the feeling that they are always with us.”

Three of Victor’s friends, American Airlines Captain Steve Verdi, United Airlines first officer Sam Irvin and United Airlines pilot Pete Maniscalco, escorted the flag on its symbolic journey.

“It’s an honor and a privilege,” said Verdi, who flew the folded flag over the World Trade Center site on August 24 during a commercial flight from New York’s LaGuardia Airport to Miami. “I’m glad I was able to do it,” he said.

Verdi received special permission from the Federal Aviation Administration and from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to fly at 3,000 feet over the site, a foot of altitude for every person who died on 9-11. A special all points bulletin was issued to every law enforcement official in the city informing them of the special flight.

On Friday evening, at the home of Valerie Mihalek in Yardley Borough, Verdi officially handed the flag off to Wrightstown Township resident Sam Irvin, a major in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

Irvin flew the flag over the Pentagon in a C-17 during a training mission on August 29, which coincidentally was Victor’s birthday.

The final leg took place this week when Pete Maniscalco flies the flag, accompanied by Ellen, Sam and Greg Downs, also a pilot with United Airlines, over the western Pennsylvania crash site near Shanksville aboard a Comanche aircraft.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The idea of the symbolic flight was suggested by Lou Jammer, the owner of Jammer Doors and a member of the dedication committee, as a way of bringing a sense of closure to the families.
“It almost had to happen,” said Jammer, of the flag’s special flight. “Without it happening, it wouldn’t have brought the whole thing together.
“Now, when the families come here, they can be assured that their family is equally important here as they are at sites in Shanksville, the Pentagon and in New York City. We are recognizing everybody.”
Bucks County Congressman Michael Fitzpatrick has been asked by the committee to officially sign a document stating that the flag has been flown over all three sites. His letter will be preserved, along with the flag along with other items associated with the garden project, including one of the shovels used to break ground for the memorial.
The $1.2 million memorial, now under construction on Woodside Road, will officially be dedicated on Saturday, September 30 beginning at 4 p.m.
The memorial will include twin fountains, representing the towers of the World Trade Center; a Walk of Remembrance, with a series of glass panels etched with the names of the people who lost their lives in the 9-11 attacks; and a memorial glass rail listing the names of the 17 residents from Bucks County who were killed.
Surrounding the outer perimeter of the memorial will be 17 trees, representing the 17 residents from Bucks County who died on September 11th.
Inside the memorial, 42 lights, representing the children from Pennsylvania who lost a parent on September 11th, will light the way for visitors. “Each of the children in Pennsylvania will have their own little light looking up into the heavens,” said Saracini.
Nine trees are also being planted near the center of the memorial, representing the nine from Lower Makefield Township who were killed on September 11th.
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For information, visit www.9-11memorialgarden.org. Donations are still being accepted for the upkeep and maintenance of the garden.