Inspiration of the 9-11 Remembrance Flag
By Gwen Loiacono

    A few days after 9-11-01, overcome with grief for the victims and their families, I prayed very compassionately before going to sleep. My prayer was not as generic as I usually pray. With deep compassion in my heart, I asked God to show me specifically what I could do to help in some way. Living in North Carolina, I felt helpless and wanted desperately to reach out to those who were suffering from the horrific tragedy. Then I went to sleep.

That night I had an incredibly realistic dream. I dreamed I was walking in NYC at Ground Zero. I was looking at all the rubble from the fallen towers, amazed at all the debris that was surrounding me. At some point I looked up and saw a huge flag pole right in the center of all the debris. My eyes then glanced to the top of the pole where a large American flag was gracefully flying, backlit by the sun. I then glanced below the US flag to see another flag flying. It was the 9-11 Remembrance Flag.

I woke up the next day with the vivid picture of the flag on my mind. This, I recall being strange because I rarely dream, and if I do, I never remember it. I tried to get this "flag" out of my mind, but it was still there...all the time. Finally, by the end of the day, I decided to sit down & make a rough sketch of the flag, thinking the vision would get out of my head. Then I colored in the drawing.

About that time, my husband Richard walked in the door after being at work all day. At first, I wasn't going to show him the artwork, but something told me I should. When I started to explain my dream and showed him the sketch of the flag, his eyes welled up with tears and he insisted that we go immediately to our business & make the flag graphics on the computer. Richard is an expert at sewing, and years earlier, he had made beautiful custom flags as a sideline to his awning business. THIS simple fact contributed immensely to bringing the flag to fruition.

That weekend, we spent the whole day making a prototype of the 9-11 Remembrance Flag. Hours later, we had two finished flags- one for us and one for the Whitehouse. We then decided to have 200 flags manufactured to give to local politicians, fire stations, police stations and businesses who wanted to show the 9-11 families that we would always remember the thousands of heroes who lost their lives that fateful September day.

HOW THE 9-11 REMEMBRANCE FLAG MADE ITS WAY TO NYC

Years prior to 9-11-01, I lived in Freehold New Jersey and developed some very strong friendships that I knew would last forever. One of my friends from New Jersey called me the night we finished making our original 9-11 flags. I began to tell her the story of my dream. With the same emotion as my husband had upon hearing the dream, she felt the need to tell the story of this special flag to her friends and co-workers.

One of the friends who heard her story was Monica Iken, who lost her husband in the North Tower that fateful Tuesday morning. Monica founded September’s Mission and she was interested in the flag because she and other victims' organizations were looking for ways to fund their foundations. She thought this flag may be a good source. She explained that she would be meeting with Mayor Giuliani that Monday and would love to have a flag to give him and other victims' family members who would be at the meeting. My husband and I went to NYC that weekend & met with Monica and other 9-11 family members. The response to the flag was overwhelming and we realized that we needed to get these flags to all the 9-11 families. Soon, newspapers and news stations were telling the 9-11 Remembrance Flag Story. More and more families began to contact us, requesting flags. To date, we have donated more than two thousand flags to the 9-11 families, survivors, and rescue workers. More than five thousand flags have been distributed around the world as a message to those who are forever changed from that horrific September day - WE WILL NEVER FORGET.

     "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths" -Proverbs 3:5-6