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Peotone Fire Department personnel had the privilege of viewing the special composite flag created in conjunction with the New York Says Thank you Foundation. Shown with the flag are (l. to r.) Retired Chief John Young, Chief Bill Schrieber, Lt. Randy Sterling, Lt. Dave Nagel, Firefighter/Paramedic Jay Young, Firefighter Brad Jerkatis, and Firefighter Ed Burns.
World Trade Center flag travels to Peotone  Share
A flag with a special meaning made its way to the Peotone Fire Department recently, evoking memories of a tragic day that reminded Americans that we can achieve more united than we can divided. The flag includes a square of the original Stars and Stripes flown at the top of the World Trade Center and recovered beneath the wreckage during clean-up of the devastated site in the weeks following September 11, 2001. The remainder of the 20-by-30-foot flag includes other flags that had been flown at significant events around the United States, explained Peotone Fire Chief William Schreiber. The different segments of flags were sewn together with permission from the U.S. government, he added, in conjunction with the New York Says Thank You Foundation. ''The flag was brought in (to the Peotone Fire Station) by the person, Julia Mudloff, taking it all over the country, who happened to fly in from Boston to Chicago to take it to Utica, Illinois,'' the chief said.
''She happens to be friends with Lieutenant Dave Nagel, who was on duty at the fire station that day, and asked him if she could stop by with it on her way to Utica. It was going to Utica to the State Police Chaplain and then transported down to the Governor's Mansion. ''It was here for only about an hour. Fire personnel who came up and were on duty had the opportunity to view it and also help fold it.'' Although Peotone did not send volunteers to Ground Zero, Chief Schreiber noted, seeing the composite flag was an emotional experience and a reminder of what was lost - and gained in American unity and pride - after that event. (The Illinois MABAS Division sent out a memo at that time, Schreiber added, regarding self-dispatching to Ground Zero, when thousands of Americans flooded the city to offer their help. Illinois MABAS organized resources to provide for controlled, orderly mutual aid response, calling upon available emergency response personnel as needed.) ''No one from the department had any close ties with any of the victims (of 9/11),'' Schreiber said, ''but as names were revealed, there were some that stood out from the fire department who assisted in training all over the country or wrote training articles in the trade magazine.'' The Peotone Fire Department will remember its fallen comrades on Friday, September 11, at memorial services beginning at 9 a.m. at the Fifth Grade Center at 212 W. Wilson. The department also participates in memorial services in neighboring communities each September. The composite flag was created in conjunction with the New York Says Thank You Foundation, an organization dedicated to repaying Americans' support in the dark days that followed the destruction of the World Trade Center. The foundation sends volunteers from New York City each year on the anniversary of 9/11 to help rebuild communities around the country affected by disasters. Foundation officials say the annual effort is their way of ''commemorating the extraordinary love and generosity extended to New Yorkers by Americans from all across the United States in the days, weeks and months following September 11.'' Over the past eight years, the foundation has helped to rebuild homes burned in California wildfires, a 140-year-old Indiana church leveled in a deadly tornado, the Gulf Coast ravaged by Hurricane Katrina and the homes of individuals struggling to overcome terminal illnesses. More information about the foundation is available at www.NewYorkSaysThankYou.org. Karen Haave is a reporter for Russell Publications.
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