TEMPE — Nearly 2,977 flags fill Tempe Beach Park this weekend — one for each life lost in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — as the community gathers to remember, reflect and heal on the 25th anniversary.
Marie Long, 87, was among some of the first to visit the Tempe Healing Fields on Thursday. As a teacher on 9/11, she remembers trying to explain to school students what had happened.
"We were unjustly attacked," Long said.
Walking through the rows of flags in triple-digit heat, Long noticed one had fallen and picked it right up.
"We need to honor this person," Long said. "God bless everyone who worked in those buildings," Long said.
Mark Whitaker, an organizer of the Healing Fields, said the display has been a fixture of the community's remembrance for more than two decades.
"This is the 23rd year we've stood this field up. And people still come and find that healing," Whitaker said.
Each flag carries the name of a victim. Yellow ribbons identify first responders, combat boot represents military service and teddy bears mark the children who died that day.
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A series of events is planned throughout the weekend. On Friday at approximately 5:30 a.m., a ceremony will be held at the time the first plane struck the World Trade Center. Each victim's name will be read aloud. The keynote speaker will be a survivor from the Pentagon on 9/11. A candlelit vigil is scheduled for Friday night at 7 p.m. A freedom concert will follow Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. On Sunday morning at 7:30 a.m., a 5K run will close out the weekend.
For Whitaker, one of the most meaningful parts of the event is guiding surviving family members to their loved one's flag.
"To be able to help them get healing, this is the 9/11 memorial healing field. It's a touch stone," Whitaker said.
Long said the sea of flags stirs a sense of pride in what Americans showed one another in the aftermath of the attacks.
"When I see all these flags representing our family, our united states family, it brings me pride that everybody tried to work together," Long said.
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