Flag Covered Art Hill

Anne went off to school and I rode in Forest Park, before it got too hot today. It is supposed to be the last day of this heat, with cooler temperatures for the foreseeable future. There was something new in the park today. 7042 American flags had been planted on Art Hill. One flag for each fallen American service person lost in the war on terror. This war will commemorate its 15th anniversary this weekend. It has been going on since 9/11. Each flag is personalized, with a name, photo and a dog tag, representing the individual for whom that flag was planted. I was not surprised that this memorial was on Art Hill, because I had read about it in the morning paper, but I was surprised when I first saw it. I was moved. There were so many flags. They did this memorial five years ago on the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and I don’t remember there being nearly so many flags then. I think that they just added another one today, because in the paper the number of flags were reported to be 7041, but now there is one more. I wonder how many more flags will be on Art Hill by this Sunday?

Art Hill Flags

We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. – Abraham Lincoln