Several Iowa cities are remembering the terrorist attacks of 25 years ago by planting thousands of small American flags in city green spaces.

KSOU photo

In Oskaloosa, high school students have placed some three-thousand flags across the town square, while in Des Moines, thousands of flags line a Gray’s Lake Park pedestrian trail alongside busy Fleur Drive.

The campus center at Dordt University in Sioux Center also has a display of some 2,977 flags that were placed last night.

“We’re going to put up that many flags, one flag to remember each person,” says Reagan Van Beek, a Dordt student who’s leading the volunteer effort for a second year.

Van Beek wasn’t born yet when the attacks happened on September 11th of 2001, but he says learning about the unity that followed has shaped how he remembers the day.

“Something terrible happened and we all knew it, but we were looking forward to brighter times,” he says, “and I think that we should look forward to brighter times again.”

A short service is planned at the Oskaloosa town square at 9 AM that will include recognition of local first responders, a bell ceremony, and the playing of “Amazing Grace” on the bag pipes.

(By Carson Schubert, KSOU, Sioux Center)