The plight of the iconic ground zero flag will be chronicled in a History special, America’s 9/11 Flag: Rise From The Ashes, set to debut on Sunday, Sept. 11, the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
The special will chronicle the flag’s recovery and journey back to New York, where it will be donated to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York, said the network.
The flag, which was raised by three New York City firefighters at Ground Zero in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, New York City terror attacks but then went missing, was eventually recovered in Everett, Wash. According to the network, the flag had been taken from the yacht Star of America, owned by Shirley Dreifus and Spiros E. Kopelakis, which was docked at the World Financial Center. Later, a different flag that was believed to have been the original flag was displayed in Yankee Stadium and assigned to the USS Theodore Roosevelt on a mission to Afghanistan after 9/11. But the original flag actually had been misplaced.
The special is part of the "History Saves History" initiative developed by the network to preserve historical items that is at risk of being lost or forgotten.
“We are honored that History has been able to play a role in the recovery and return of the Ground Zero Flag, an important national symbol,” Jana Bennett, president and general manager of History, said in a release. “The story of how the flag was found, authenticated and returned to New York is one of the great modern day mysteries solved. Programs like America’s 9/11 Flag: Rise from the Ashes are an example of History’s commitment to commemorating the events that unfolded on and after 9/11, as well as the stories of individuals who witnessed or played a role in the events of that day.”
