Who has iconic 9/11 flag?
Two years ago, CNN broadcast a documentary titled “The Flag.” The work of Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein, it traced the story of a missing American flag, the one hoisted on 9/11 by three firemen in a tableau that recalled the flag-raising on Iwo Jima.
“That flag is missing?” was the reaction of many startled viewers. As the film explains, the iconic flag disappeared shortly after it was lifted. The banner that appeared at many post-9/11 events turned out to be a substitute.
After the documentary recently re-aired, Mr. Tucker agreed to answer some questions, including how the film came to be.
“We were brought the story by David Friend at Vanity Fair” magazine, he explained. “He had written a book called ‘Watching the World Change’ about the images of 9/11 and had devoted a chapter to the story of the flag. We sat on it for a few years, and then CNN Films expressed interest in telling the story” for the anniversary of 9/11 in 2013.
Interviewees in the film include Rudy Giuliani, who was mayor of New York City on 9/11, the then-head of the NYC firemen and military personnel. The film-makers also surfaced possible witnesses to what happened to the banner.
“We looked at hundreds of hours of footage and thousands of photographs in an attempt to understand what happened in the aftermath of the attacks,” Mr. Tucker noted. “Of the three firefighters, only Billy Eisengrein would speak to us, and when he did, he really articulated the essence of [the flag]: It’s a symbol.”
In their research, Tucker continued, “we found so many incredible stories – and so many flags.” But not the original one, so its current location remains unknown. The filmmaker said that “what was shocking was that it was taken down so fast – hours after being put up – and that the ‘substitute’ flag traveled so far and wide,” including to such events as a prayer service at Yankee Stadium and ceremonies aboard battleships overseas.
Mr. Tucker cited “two prevailing theories” about what happened to the flag. One is that “a high-ranking person on the scene took it.” The other notion is that it “was taken down to cover a victim. At the site, the firefighters were concerned with rescue and recovery, and there were literally thousands of people down there with very little command and control. We may never know. If it does turn up, it’s easily identifiable.”
“The easiest explanation,” he continued, “is that the flag went up with little fanfare, recovery-and-rescue [efforts] started, and then…there was a shift change before the flag disappeared. The flag was taken by someone who hadn’t witnessed it being put up” and didn’t realize its significance.
His personal guess is that the 9/11 flag is “sitting innocently in a den or office. The person that has it doesn’t know what they have.” He added that, if found, the flag “would make a fine addition to the 9/11 museum” in New York City.
Meanwhile, he said, “It’s out there…somewhere.”