Field of Flags Installation Leaves North Adams
Volunteers help pack up the more than 6,500 flags that are part of the Field of Flags installation at First Congregational Church. |
On Friday afternoon, volunteers pulled up the thousands of small flags, setting them in plastic buckets and boxes. Later, the flags would be counted into bundles of 25.
What took a half-day to post three weeks ago was plucked in just over an hour. The Rev. Pat Kriss said she didn't believe one flag had been lost, but sadly, 11 more were added during its stay.
"Thanks for doing this, it was fantastic," said a woman as she walked by Kriss.
"That's the kind of response we've been getting," said Kriss, who had pushed for two years to get the exhibit. "One person said it was nice to live in a city where can you fly the flag."
The exhibit is unusual in that it's both patriotic and a call for peace, she said. "It's a reminder to us of the high cost of combat," she said.
"Field of Flags" is a symbol of the losses incurred during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Each flag represents a casualty. It arrived with 6,505 flags and leaves for Warren Congregational Church with 6,516.
The exhibit included a board listing the name of every American casualty of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. |
There had been some concern about the display, which also includes a plaque board with the names of every serviceman and -woman lost in the conflicts, being out on the busy end of Main Street.
"Basically, I just started praying to God that I need a guardian angel," said Kriss. That angel arrived in the form of an Iraq veteran who could see the installation from his apartment window. "He told me he made it his priority to watch over it."
But residents have been respectful of the display. The comments in posted in the guest book from people around the region and as far away as Canada are laudatory, describing the exhibit as awe-inspiring, humbling and a visual reminder that freedom is never free. One individual suggested sending it to both President Obama and his challenger and former Gov. Mitt Romney to underline what is happening.
Perhaps the most affecting was a simple missive written in block letters by a youngster.
Tags: american flag, field of flags, flags, wars,