The city of Sandy hosted its 23rd annual Healing Field—a display of more than 3,000 flags—in honor of the victims of 9/11.
Each flag, lined in rows in front of Sandy City Hall, represents someone who died in the attacks on September 11, 2001. Attached to every flag is the name of a victim and a short paragraph about who they were, where they were from, and the people they left behind.
The flags were organized by location of where they died and, for those applicable, included their police or fire department unit number.
Katie Atkinson, Sandy city events manager and project chair for the Healing Field, has lived in Sandy for the past 20 years. She said that the Healing Field is her favorite event to work on because it brings so much meaning, hope and healing.
“It’s hard to understand the patriotism that followed the attacks,” she said. “Everybody in America came together and I think setting up our field brings some of that feeling back. We are all in this together and every life matters. A life lost matters and is not forgotten.”
More than 500 volunteers came together to help set up the display of patriotism and unity, Atkinson said.
Every year, visitors come from all over the state to see the display and honor those who lost their lives. Many families come as a learning opportunity.
Jessica Kropf, a South Jordan resident, brought her kids to the field so they could visually understand the enormity of what happened.
“It’s a huge representation of how many people were actually lost. You look at each flag and it actually represents a person,” she said. Her daughter Reagan, 14, was surprised at the sheer number of flags stretching all the way down the park to city hall. She could feel that something was special there, she said.
At the field there was a tangible solemnity, almost like that of a cemetery, visitors said. Provo resident Jim Petersen came to the field to pay tribute. After reading dozens of cards, he sat on the grass contemplating the lives that were lost in the attacks.
“It’s too bad many, many more people can’t walk through here and see the numbers of people that were murdered,” he said. “I was struck by how many different nationalities were involved—the victims were from everywhere.”
Because the victims were from everywhere, it seemed as though the world came together after the attacks to try and find hope and healing. That’s what the Healing Field aims to do, according to information signs posted at the entrance.
Previously, the flag display was managed by the Colonial Flag Foundation, who created the original Healing Field in Sandy in 2002. Since then, many other cities across America have worked to create a similar event and experience. This year, though, the Foundation turned all the supervision over to Sandy City.
Just across the street from the Healing Field on the grounds of City Hall, an additional 318 flags were put on display. Those flags represented the Utah servicemen and women who lost their lives while serving their country since 9/11. Each of those flags have a name card and life sketch as well.
Atkinson said the field helps comfort people from all over.
“People are there to heal that didn’t even really have to do with 9/11. There’s just this spirit that exists on the field when these flags are up that you can’t experience until you’ve been there in person and felt it yourself,” she said.
The display, located south of Sandy City Hall at 10000 South Centennial Parkway, began Sept. 9 and will be available to visit through Sept. 13 to allow people enough time to experience the healing field.
