Yacht Flag Raised over GroundZero (interesting piece of Info/Trivia I found on Sailnet home site- I love that picture taken by staff photographer, Tom Franklin, for the Bergen Record ...BTW I live in Bergen County...) http://199.173.2.7/news/fireflag2001091458.htm NEW YORK, NY—The American flag that was seen being raised over the smoking rubble of the World Trade Center here in lower Manhattan has now been claimed, the Associated Press reported today. Spiros Kopelakis and his wife, Shirley Dreifus, say they are the owners of the flag, which became a patriotic symbol when a photographer captured three firefighters hoisting it over the site that's become known as ground zero. Kopelakis and Dreifus have asked the firefighters to sign an affidavit stating that they removed the flag from their charter yacht, which was docked near the trade center. The couple, who said they have lost 95 percent of their business since September 11, insist they are not seeking any financial gain from the flag. They said they simply want the public to know that it came from their yacht, which was badly damaged by falling debris. "We don't want to be compensated for the flag; we just want to be recognized," Kopelakis said Sunday. "We want this flag to be treated in the right way." The couple has asked the firefighters to look at photographs of their yacht, the 130-foot Star of America. "There were only three boats there, and ours was the only one with a missing flag," Dreifus said. "I don't think it's a great mystery." The couple said they would like to see the three-foot-by-five-foot flag displayed in a museum or as part of a Trade Center memorial. The firefighters have said they removed the flag from a yacht docked at the North Cove pier on the Hudson River and erected it at the Trade Center complex, a few blocks away, to boost the morale of the September 11 rescue workers. The flag, which is currently flying aboard the US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, has been seen across the world.
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Thanks for this!
Thank you for telling us about the flag from the World Trade Center. Makes me proud as an American to see it flying high. As a retired Marine, I understand the importance of that event in time. Thank you to Spiros Kopelakis and his wife, Shirley Dreifus for sharing it with America!
Thank you for telling us about the flag from the World Trade Center. Makes me proud as an American to see it flying high. As a retired Marine, I understand the importance of that event in time. Thank you to Spiros Kopelakis and his wife, Shirley Dreifus for sharing it with America!
Thanks, Tom
Tom from Stanford, thank you for this article. It makes me proud to be an American. I especially appreciated the ethnicity of the two flag owners names. That is what makes this sport, and this country, so amazing; people from all walks of life, and all races or creeds, come together as one!
Tom from Stanford, thank you for this article. It makes me proud to be an American. I especially appreciated the ethnicity of the two flag owners names. That is what makes this sport, and this country, so amazing; people from all walks of life, and all races or creeds, come together as one!
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