Category — Healing Field

Those drawn to set up Field of Honor Displays in their communities are typically very involved people.  So, it did not really surprise us to learn that the Red Cross chose to honor Newburyport’s Field of Honor Project Chair, Kathleen Bailey.  The team at Colonial Flag Foundation has grown to appreciate Kathleen’s skill, dedication and service.  Nonetheless, we have learned that her community involvement is not limited to the Field of Honor Flag Display that has proved so successful in Newburyport.  Check out the Katie Lovett’s feature article from the Newburyport Daily News at the link: http://bit.ly/he9Sw8

Specifically, the Red Cross honored Kathleen as a “community hero” at their annual awards ceremony.  Although she has only lived in the area for a relatively short time, her impact is evident in many organizations throughout the community.  A member of the Exchange Club of Greater Newburyport, she spearheaded the establishment of a Field of Honor flag display in Newburyport.  Additionally, she has served as the Chairwoman of the 2009 Yankee Homecoming celebration; she led efforts to donate gift boxes for youth and senior groups; and she ran as a successful city Charter Commission candidate.

Typically modest, she observed “I just do what I do, and I enjoy doing it.”  Still, it is the words she has described as her motto that best explain Kathleen, “Don’t just sit there, do something.”  Yes, that about sums it up for Kathleen Bailey.  We are pleased that she has received this well deserved recognition.

Kathleen, we salute you!

Brian Guhl, a graphic designer for the Naperville Park District captured a scene photographically that is familiar to those who have visited a Field of Honor Display.  A multitude of United States flags displayed in ordered lines; 2,009 flags in all were posted to commemorate Veterans Day of 2009.  The pale blue sky viewed through the bare branches of a stately tree portrayed the tranquility of an autumn day.   Viewing the picture one can almost hear the soft notes of the towering Millennium Carillon pictured in the scene adding to the feeling of healing and peace of the display.  The folks at the Park District liked the photograph so well, that a year later they placed it on the cover of the Naperville Park District Autumn 2010 Program Guide.  However, it did not end there.  Knowing they had a winner, the Naperville Park District entered the cover in competition at the Illinois Park and Recreation Association Agency Showcase, where it received the Integrated Photograph award.  The winning photograph is pictured here through the courtesy of the Naperville Park District.  Congratulations Brian and the staff of the Park District.  We agree, the photograph is a beautiful depiction of the Naperville Field of Honor Display.

What does a flag mean?  Why is it important?  The questions are simple, the answers are not.  As with many simple questions, these answers are not easy to express.  The United States flag is, by its very nature, an emblem infused with feeling.  Old Glory reflects the most momentous events of our national history.  Yet the flag can also be very personal.   Sometimes in our national experience the momentous and the personal collide.

On the eleventh day of September in 2001, we watched television screens in disbelief as two planes crashed into New York’s World Trade Center.  We stared in horror at images of the towers collapsing and killing thousands.  Trying to make sense of the senseless, we watched while three New York City fire fighters raised the Stars and Stripes over the ruble.  That simple act comforted.  The flag reminded us that those killed in the attacks had each became a part of America’s history of sacrifice.  It reminded us that we all are part of something greater than self.  We reached out to one another and found unity in our resolve.

In the days and weeks following the attacks, we found unity and a nation.  We remembered the values that unite us as a people.

On the first anniversary of the attacks, the United States flag served again as a focal point to comfort us and remind us.  Sandy, Utah became the setting for a new memorial.  Paul Swenson envisioned a brilliant display of the Star and Stripes.  Not one flag raised over rubble, but a mass of flags flying over a green field, a Healing Field.  Over three thousand flags, one flag for each casualty of the terrorist attacks.

Healing Field in Sandy, Utah.

Just as the enormity of the attacks overwhelmed us emotionally, the display of three by five foot U. S. flags mounted on eight foot poles impacts the viewer emotionally.

Over the years, the concept of the Healing Field has spread across the Nation to each state and the District of Columbia.

Each year, a Healing Field in Sandy has honored the sacrifices of the September eleventh attack.  This year, the ninth visible expression of the Healing Field will rise in front of Sandy’s City Hall.  Volunteers will set up the ordered lines of flags in the early evening of Thursday, September 9th and the flags will fly until Monday, September 13th.  A Dedication Ceremony will take place on the anniversary of the attack, September Eleventh at Twelve Noon.

Join us at the 2010 Sandy Healing Field.  Share with us this moving experience to bring us together as a Nation and as a people.