The flag’s original owners, who owned the yacht the flag was taken from before firefighters raised it at ground zero, donated the flag to the 9/11 museum.
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Like the flag rising at Iwo Jima, the image of three firefighters hoisting the American flag amid the destruction of the World Trade Center came to symbolize strength and resilience after 9/11. Another flag that was purported to be the one in the photo, but which was somewhat larger than the original, was displayed at various locations following the 9/11 attacks, including Yankee Stadium and an aircraft carrier, and signed by prominent officials. New York City officials tried to track it down, to no avail.
In 2014, author Brad Meltzer featured the mystery of the missing flag on his TV show, “Brad Meltzer’s Lost History”. At that point, it was determined not to be the original.
An iconic American flag that disappeared after the September 11 terror attacks will now be displayed where it allegedly flew 15 years ago.
The man, who used the name Brian, said he was a former Marine and had been given the flag by a worker at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who had in turn been given the flag by a 9/11 widow, the Times said. In “The 9/11 Flag Rise from the Ashes” airing Sunday at 10:30 p.m., Meltzer explains that they’ve found it, too.
He said that police determined its authenticity by late past year and turned it over to its owners in early August.
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When the flag was recovered, according to Chubb’s statement, it held an ownership interest.
