Waves of Flags for Patriot Day

    On the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Miami Lakes Veterans Committee remembered the victims and those who tried to save them at a ceremony held Sept. 10 in Veterans Park. On the quiet Sunday morning, thousands of flags planted in tribute to the fallen swayed gently on the lawn. In days leading up to the event, students from Barbara Goleman Senior High School’s National Honor Society, the school’s Law Society and Boy Scout Troop 566 placed the flags in the green space. 

     American Legion Post 144’s Chaplain Ismo Guzman read an invocation and Brianna Correa sang the national anthem.

     Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Firefighter Gabriel Andrade, Firefighter/Paramedic Camilo Ortiz and Miami-Dade Police Lt. Eddy Ulloa read biographies of a New York Police Dept. officer and two members of that city’s fire department who were among 442 public safety officers awarded posthumous Medals of Valor for their brave actions that day.  

    “Each one of those flags represents a human being, an American,” said Veterans Committee Chair William Perez, shown at the podium in the photo at left. At right, the field of flags. Councilman Tony Fernandez and Mayor Manny Cid joined local police and firefighters to observe Patriot Day. Headquarter Toyota and Sergio’s Cuban American Kitchen were the sponsors.