When Gene Quador saw the “Never Forget” banner being hung from the bottom of the Welcome To Golden arch, his memory went spiraling back to Sept. 11, 2001.
The banner was hung July 14 just before the raising of the 30-by-57-foot Patriot Flag that is touring the country to honor those who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks and subsequent emergency response.
Quador, chief of the Golden Fire Department Training Division, said that although he had planned the flag-raising ceremony, he hadn’t really looked at the banner before it was displayed.
“It had all the names of all the victims,” he said. “Just line after line of names. You’ve got no words; there were so many people.”
Quador said he was operations chief of Rocky Flats Fire/Rescue when the terrorist attacks. He heard the news as he and other firefighters on duty that morning at Rocky Flats watched TV.
“Ten years later, the message that we must not forget what happened is still strong,” he said. “As we said the Pledge of Allegiance after the Patriot Flag was raised, people were wiping away tears. It’s still that powerful.”
The Patriot Flag began a tour of all 50 states on Sept. 10, 2010, as part of a grassroots volunteer effort to honor those who died during the attacks and the public safety personnel who died during rescue response that followed.
“It is a testament to what happened,” says a statement on the Patriot Flag project website, www.thepatriotflag.us. “It sends a message to the world and the families of those lost on 9/11 that we have not forgotten. It also honors the men and women on the job today, protecting the citizens they serve.”
The tour will end Sept. 10, 2011, and then the flag will fly on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 in all three locations where terrorist-piloted planes crashed.
Fed Ex, a sponsor of the project, is making sure the flag gets to each of its destinations.
So far, the flag has been displayed in more than 155 cities.
In Colorado, Gunnison firefighter Hugo Ferchau learned about the tour and wanted to bring the flag to as many Colorado cities as possible during the week it is in Colorado.
He contacted his brother Derek, a volunteer firefighter in Golden, who then spoke to Quador.
After Golden firefighters hung the “Never Forget” banner from the arch across Washington Avenue, a group of 11 firefighters carried the 75-pound flag to the department’s Tower No. 1 truck, which was parked next to the arch.
They attached the flag to the tower, and it was slowly raised over the arch as nearly 200 people watched, many saluting or holding their hands over their hearts.
The flag, which was donated to the project by a group of businessmen in Escondido, Calif., swayed in the gentle breeze for 15 minutes before it was lowered, folded and placed in the Fed Ex container.
Hugo Ferchau and several of his colleagues from Gunnison came for the Golden ceremony and personally carried the flag home with them.
They will raise the flag Friday during the Cattleman’s Days rodeo, already pegged as Patriot Night and offering free admission to veterans.
From there, the flag will go to Colorado Springs, where it will be raised during the Monday night Sky Sox’s game.
From Colorado, the flag will travel to Michigan.