September 11, 2002
Albany- The morning ritual is just like any other for Roger Hornsby, hoisting the American flag on the mailbox in front of his Albany home.
"Up in the morning, down at night everyday," Hornsby said.
But most other people you might find putting out flags this week did not have there's out the night before or much at all in 2002. The weeks after September 11th last year saw flag shelves emptied, and a whole lot of patriotism, but then it slowly faded away.
"We put our flag out last year after 9-11 attacks flew it for some time but then we took it down." Catherine Whitfield said.
But now the flag is flying in front of the Whitfield home again.
"We've put it back up, probably keep it up for whole month of September to show our support for those who died and were such heroes," Whitfield said.
And while more flags might fly July 4th or now at half staff September 11th each year, many think a sense of what it means to be an American has been forever changed.
"This may sound strange, but it was a good thing it happened, woke this country up, and I think patriotism today is 200 percent over what it was September 10th," Dick Wahl said.
But always the same for many military veterans like Roger Hornsby.
"We spent 20 years protecting it so we're proud of it," Hornsby said.
He will be out putting his flag again Thursday morning, even if others are taking theirs down.
Governor Barnes directed all state buildings to fly their flags at half staff Wednesday in remembrance of all those who lost their lives a year ago.
posted at 5:25 p.m. by dave.d'marko@walb.com
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