Of course he remembers; we all remember.
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Rufus Rose was in bed listening to talk radio. The Whidbey Island man used earphones to keep from awakening his wife.
“I heard the first one reported — an airplane had flown into a building. They didn’t know what was going on. Then the second one happened,” said Rose, 73, a retired Navy pilot.
The rest of that day, Rose did what we all did. He watched shocking news of the terrorist attacks on New York’s World Trade Center towers, on the Pentagon, and on a fourth airliner that crashed in a Pennsylvania field.
He didn’t put up his American flag. “I was riveted by the coverage,” said Rose, who lives near Clinton. “I don’t fly it every day. I fly it on special occasions,” he said of his flag.
Today, Patriot Day, is one of those occasions. Rose plans to proudly fly the Stars and Stripes near his house on Maxwelton Road.
He’ll never forget the vicious attacks that claimed almost 3,000 lives that day. He worries that for some Americans the vivid memories are beginning to fade.
“Flying the flag on that day is sort of symbolic of individual freedom, what this country stands for. It’s worth trying to remember,” he said.
I found the Whidbey man’s name on an e-mail chain letter. Rose’s message came with the subject line “Get Your Flag Ready.” It explained a “Fly the Flag” campaign aimed at getting as many Americans as possible to display U.S. flags today — just as so many did in the days and weeks following the 2001 attacks.
Gov. Chris Gregoire announced Wednesday that flags at all state agency facilities will be lowered to half-staff today in accordance with the national Patriot Day, the annual Sept. 11 memorial to victims of the tragedy. President George W. Bush signed the observance of Patriot Day into law in December of 2001.
Rose’s Aug. 23 message was one of several versions of the flag e-mail I received. He had shortened his letter — taking out a command to “Forward this e-mail to everyone you know (at least 11 people)” — but kept its essence:
“Take a moment to think back to how you felt on 9/11 and let those sentiments guide you,” the chain letter said. “For some time following 9/11 our country was bathed in American flags as citizens mourned the incredible losses and stood shoulder-to-shoulder against terrorism. … Our patriotism pulled us through some tough times, and it shouldn’t take another attack to galvanize us in solidarity.”
Kourtney Harris well remembers the extraordinary demand for American flags in those first days after the attacks. Harris, 28, is a sales manager for Flags A’ Flying, which sells flags, flagpoles, banners, flag lapel pins and related items. The company now has stores in Tacoma and Everett. On Sept. 11, 2001, the business was only in Tacoma, where Harris was working.
The store didn’t open that day, when countless Americans stayed home watching in stunned disbelief. By 7 the next morning, Harris said flag buyers were lined up and the store’s parking lot was full. “Those were long days,” she said, adding that customers called from as far as New York in search of flags.
“Our manufacturers were completely out of flags in a couple of days,” Harris said. She recalled someone settling on a French flag, just to have red, white and blue to display. These days she sees business pick up to some degree each year around the Fourth of July and Sept. 11. Demand is nothing like it was eight years ago, though.
Did Harris get the e-mail?
“I probably received it two or three times,” she said. “It’s a good reminder. With all of us so busy, so wrapped up in our own lives, it’s easy to forget what it was like on that day.”
For Rose, who flew helicopters in the Vietnam War, it’s impossible to forget. And flying the flag isn’t all he does.
“I hope all your readers will keep the people who are trying to protect us in their prayers,” he said.
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460, muhlstein@heraldnet.com
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