Burley Funeral Home placed nearly 3,000 flags in a nearby field Sunday to commemorate the lives lost during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The flags were placed by Boy Scout Troop No. 59 and Girl Scout Troop No. 42583 and will be on display through Sept. 13.
Community members are being invited to place a flag in honor of their loved ones lost on 9/11.
Burley Office Manager Cathy George said the funeral home staff came up with idea after a discussion about how they wanted to commemorate the day.
A flag for each lost life seemed appropriate, George said.
“Once we started mapping out the space, it sort of took your breath away,” George said. “Looking at all those flags and thinking each one was a person.”
On Thursday, the Navy Region Northwest Fire and Emergency Services Battalion 3 will memorialize the attack during a Patriot Day ceremony starting at 7:55 a.m.
Police, sheriff, fire and rescue units from all over the island will be in attendance.
The event will be held at the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station headquarters flag pole and will include a short ceremony led by base commander Capt. Mike Nortier.
North Whidbey Fire and Rescue Chief Marv Koorn said he and other area first responders have attended the base’s event since they first started it in 2002.
The ceremony includes a moment of silence, the reading of the Firefighter’s Prayer and the traditional ringing of the bell.
The prayer and bell ringing are traditions of the fire service that reflect respect and honor to those who gave their lives to their duty.
The ringing of the bell represents the end of the emergency and the return to quarters, and is usually three rings of the bell, three times.
“I think it’s important to remember what happened that day,” Koorn said. “They gave their lives to save others. We do it in recognition of the sacrifice they gave.”
The approximately 3,000 lives lost included 343 firefighters, 60 police officers and the 125 military and Department of Defense civilians at the Pentagon, according to the Navy.
