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Patriot Flag to arrive in Fort Scott; Old Glory to be part of FSNHS's celebration of Kansas statehood
A special version of Old Glory will be making its way to Fort Scott later this month.
The Patriot Flag, a 30-by-58-foot, 60-pound United States flag, is scheduled to arrive in Fort Scott and be displayed at the Fort Scott National Historic Site the weekend of Jan. 29-30, when the site will be conducting a series of events to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Kansas statehood and the start of the Civil War.
The flag is a tribute to the armed forces and first responders who assisted during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on America, as well as the victims of those attacks and their families. It is in the middle of a nationwide "50 States in 50 Weeks" tour in which it will fly in each of the 50 states before being raised in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania on the upcoming 10th anniversary of the horrific event.
A group of veterans and firefighters in the San Diego, Calif., area and World Memorial, a nonprofit federally-recognized charity, are coordinating the flag project in conjunction with the American Legion J.B. Clark Post 149 in California.
Fort Scott Fire Department Chief Paul Ballou said a member of that group contacted him about a week ago to express interest in bringing the flag to town after discovering online the local celebration activities taking place at national historic site.
Ballou said the thought was that displaying the flag would be a nice addition to activities at the site that weekend and potentially draw more people to the area.
"He said the flag hadn't been in Kansas yet," Ballou said. "So we're working with the fort and local veterans to have a small ceremony and get the flag up there ... Hopefully, we can add to what the old fort does."
Marge Stringer, wife of American Legion Post 25 Commander Wayne Stringer, said the American Legion was also contacted about bringing the Patriot Flag to Fort Scott.
"They wanted to get it in every state before 9/11," she said. "We checked with the city and the fort to see if they would be willing to have it there ... Everybody was excited about it."
Ballou said he is working this week on the logistics involved with hoisting the large flag up on the ladders of two fire trucks for display. He said he "hopes the weather holds up" for the community event, and that he expects local veterans, as well as law enforcement and fire personnel to attend.
According to the website, www.publicsafety.net/thepatriotflag.htm, as the flag tours the country, it will send a message to the world and the families of the loved ones lost on Sept. 11, 2001 that "we have not forgotten."
"It's a big honor to be part of a project that's nationwide," Ballou said. "It's an honor to be able to get the word out there to all these people that we're not going to forget that date ... For emergency responders in general, it's a big honor."
According to the website, the flag has already been in 23 states and 50 cities as of Jan. 11. The flag began its journey Sept. 10, 2010, in San Diego, Calif., and is expected to be in Florida this week. The flag is scheduled to be in Kansas City on Jan. 26, just a few days before its appearance in Fort Scott.
It will be retired in an official ceremony in Escondido, Calif., this September and placed in an appropriate venue to be announced later, according to the site.
Ballou said there are three stipulations to receiving the flag -- it must be on display for at least 55 minutes, the "Star Spangled Banner" must be played, and the Pledge of Allegiance must be recited.