Day 17 - Sunday, July 31, 2022 - Part II
Hermitage PA
It is a wonderful experience to visit The Avenue of 444 Flags, and as we arrive to America's Cemetary in Hermitage, Herb and I walk around the area quietly viewing the flags and taking a few photographs. Originally the flags were the symbol of "American Held Hostage", but now they remain as silent proclamation that our freedoms must never be taken for granted.
The story began on November 4, 1979, when an angry mob led by university students stormed the gates of the American embassy in Tehran, Iran, and took 53 Americans hostage. Days went by and negotiations with the terrorists failed to secure their release.
As day 100 approached, families of veterans donated casket flags, and an American flag was raised for each of the 100 days of captivity. They raised a new flag every day until the hostages were released on January 20, 1981, and it took 344 more flags.
The names of all military personnel who have died in the War on Terror since 1975 are etched in eleven steel and glass panels, which circle a fountain in the center of the Avenue of 444 Flags.
Today as we walk around again and again, reading names and seeing a few photos of veterans, we also see posts that contain emblems of the various branches of the Military, and search for the Marine Corps, in which Herb served. Although they were not among the hostages, we remember others who have served our country in the Military. We find the Navy emblem and think of Herb's younger brother, the late Gerald Howard Stark, Herb's uncle, the late Al Wilson, and our friend, Bruce C. Moore.
Serving in the Army were my brother, Dwight D. Pittman, and the late Stephen William 'Bill' Phillips, grandfather of Roxie Phillips Woodward and Patrice Phillips-Schmoll.
The War on Terror Veterans Memorial is something that all freedom loving people can be proud of and a testament that those who paid the supreme sacrifice will never be forgotten.
No comments:
Post a Comment