2,996 American flags filled the lower part of Bascom Hill Friday to symbolize and commemorate the number of lives lost on 9/11.
The Veterans, Educators and Traditional Students organization of UW-Madison worked with College Republicans, College Democrats, Young Progressives and Young Americans for Freedom to set up the memorial.
The informal service began with a flag placement at 7 a.m. Friday morning, and was concluded by a brief address from V.E.T.S. president James O’Rourke.
“A memorial is made to remind people of someone’s memory and remember things that happened,” O’Rourke said. “We’re doing this on a larger scale this year to remind people that 15 years ago we experienced the worst U.S. terror in history that has shaped our country and our world in such a dramatic way.”
The flags were removed from the hill at 3 p.m. Friday due to university rules that state items cannot be left on the hill overnight. According to O’Rourke, the groups set the flags out on Friday instead of Sunday because not enough people would see them on the weekend.
“It would be a disservice to the people that have lost their lives to do the memorial on a day where it wouldn’t be seen,” O’Rourke said. “People need to take this time in the next few days to remember all those lives that were lost, not only on 9/11 but in similar events that are still happening all over the world.”
