Flag from 9-11 Tribute is 'Lost' say its Owners
Flag from 9-11 tribute is 'lost,' say its owners
June 15, 2005
BOB IVRYKnight Ridder Newspapers
HACKENSACK, N.J. - It's one of the most famous flags in American history, destined to take its place alongside Francis Scott Key's star-spangled banner and the symbol of sacrifice and triumph at Iwo Jima.
It's the flag hoisted at Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2001, by three New York City firefighters, immortalized in a photo and taken to heart by millions as an emblem of the loss and heroism of that horrible day.
And nobody knows where the flag is.
The flag raised over the ruins of the World Trade Center was taken by firefighter Dan McWilliams from the Star of America yacht, docked near the site. It measured 3 feet by 5 feet. The flag returned a year later to the yacht's owners, Spiros Kopelakis and Shirley Dreifus, measured 5 feet by 8 feet.
It wasn't the same flag.
"The city of New York lost the flag," Dreifus said.
She and Kopelakis say they tried suing the city administration to get them to find the flag, but their lawsuit seeking $525,000 in damages fizzled. Dreifus said that after Sept. 11, their commercial yacht business foundered, and she and Kopelakis ran out of money. The suit is no longer active, she said.
"The reason we came forward to say the flag was lost was so nobody could sell it on eBay," Dreifus said. "It belongs in a museum, where people can see it. Or it belongs downtown. I have absolutely no idea where it is."
Dreifus said that she and her husband planned to donate the flag to the Smithsonian Institution. They believe the original flag was taken from Ground Zero soon after Sept. 11, because the larger flag bears the signatures of Rudolph Giuliani, Michael Bloomberg and other dignitaries who visited the site less than two weeks after the attacks on the Twin Towers.
The larger flag flew on U.S. ships serving in the war in Afghanistan, then was returned to New York in March 2002 to tour firehouses and police stations. It came back to Dreifus and Kopelakis when they planned a benefit cruise for fallen firefighters in 2002.
Calls for comment from New York City officials were not immediately returned.
The photo by the Bergen County (N.J.) Record's Tom Franklin Franklin seemed, more than any other image, to capture that day's conflicting emotions of anger, sadness and pride. Franklin said that even now, he receives messages from people who were moved by the image.
"The flag should be treated as historic," Franklin said. "The photo has meant so much to so many people. It saddens me to know the flag is not being treated with respect."
June 15, 2005
BOB IVRYKnight Ridder Newspapers
HACKENSACK, N.J. - It's one of the most famous flags in American history, destined to take its place alongside Francis Scott Key's star-spangled banner and the symbol of sacrifice and triumph at Iwo Jima.
It's the flag hoisted at Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2001, by three New York City firefighters, immortalized in a photo and taken to heart by millions as an emblem of the loss and heroism of that horrible day.
And nobody knows where the flag is.
The flag raised over the ruins of the World Trade Center was taken by firefighter Dan McWilliams from the Star of America yacht, docked near the site. It measured 3 feet by 5 feet. The flag returned a year later to the yacht's owners, Spiros Kopelakis and Shirley Dreifus, measured 5 feet by 8 feet.
It wasn't the same flag.
"The city of New York lost the flag," Dreifus said.
She and Kopelakis say they tried suing the city administration to get them to find the flag, but their lawsuit seeking $525,000 in damages fizzled. Dreifus said that after Sept. 11, their commercial yacht business foundered, and she and Kopelakis ran out of money. The suit is no longer active, she said.
"The reason we came forward to say the flag was lost was so nobody could sell it on eBay," Dreifus said. "It belongs in a museum, where people can see it. Or it belongs downtown. I have absolutely no idea where it is."
Dreifus said that she and her husband planned to donate the flag to the Smithsonian Institution. They believe the original flag was taken from Ground Zero soon after Sept. 11, because the larger flag bears the signatures of Rudolph Giuliani, Michael Bloomberg and other dignitaries who visited the site less than two weeks after the attacks on the Twin Towers.
The larger flag flew on U.S. ships serving in the war in Afghanistan, then was returned to New York in March 2002 to tour firehouses and police stations. It came back to Dreifus and Kopelakis when they planned a benefit cruise for fallen firefighters in 2002.
Calls for comment from New York City officials were not immediately returned.
The photo by the Bergen County (N.J.) Record's Tom Franklin Franklin seemed, more than any other image, to capture that day's conflicting emotions of anger, sadness and pride. Franklin said that even now, he receives messages from people who were moved by the image.
"The flag should be treated as historic," Franklin said. "The photo has meant so much to so many people. It saddens me to know the flag is not being treated with respect."
posted by "Faces of the Brave" at 3:23 PM
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