Planting for a Cause

Story by Selah Wheeler- Staff Reporter

   On the 20th anniversary of the day itself, members of the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) and Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) worked together to plant 3000 flags in the field between the LSN football field and Tudor Road to commemorate the events of September 11, 2001.

   The flag-planting ceremony was headed by Conner Brown, senior, who wanted to draw awareness to the day that many know about, but so few understand.

   “I think that it’s important for people, you know, across the country, to remember a time when we were united…under one flag. Which is kind of hard to think about nowadays,” Brown said.

   While 9/11 is widely talked about and remembered, the day after the tragedies is commonly forgotten. September 12, 2001 saw a huge influx of people from all over the country, banding together to memorialize the fallen and support the survivors.

   “I was hoping to achieve more of a remembrance,” Brown said. “We get so wrapped up in our tribalistic means of, you know, who’s side is better and all that sort of stuff, that we forget we all are…a single country, and we all were hurt by that day.”

   During the flag-planting ceremony, students banded together to plant thousands of flags in only an hour and a half — proving that when a group of people care about a cause, anything is possible. 9/11 was full of tragic events, but also brave heroes who deserve to be remembered. Planting these flags was a step taken to always remember, and never forget.

Photo courtesy of Connor Brown