Elmira College remembers 9/11 with annual flag placing ceremony

ELMIRA, N.Y. ( WETM ) — Upwards of 75 students were out on the lawn of Elmira College on Wednesday, paying respect and remembrance to the lives lost during the Sept. 11 attacks on New York City, Shanksville Pennsylvania, and the Pentagon.

Since 2015, students at Elmira College have been placing around 3000 flags on the campus lawn to pay respects to each person who lost their life in the attacks.

Any student who had the time to attend the event joined local firefighters and law enforcement in placing the flags in the grass as cars rode by along Park Place.

Some of the firefighters told 18 News that even though most of the Elmira Fire Department wasn’t on the job at the time they signified the importance of continuing to remember those lost.

“It’s nice to see that 23 years later we’re still remembering those people that we lost,” said Deputy Chief Daniel Lutz of the Elmira Fire Department. “Police department, fire department, the students on campus are coming out and they’re really showing up and putting their remembrance out there,” Lutz said.

As for the students, most of, if not all weren’t alive at the time of the attacks on 9/11, but still said it’s important to have continued remembrance.

“I think it just brings the school closer together,” said Bryan Stafford, a junior at Elmira College. “It really just helps us remember what happened because most students on campus weren’t alive for 9/11,” he said. “We’re pretty young, so just to see how important it is to the American people that we remember this tragedy just really shows how important it is to us to do this and remember it,” Stafford said.

This was just one of the many events taking place throughout the Twin Tiers and across the country as we honor and remember September 11, 2001.

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