Menlo Park Firefighters Remove 9/11 Flags

Each of the flags had a tag that bore a name. 

This one read: "Orio Palmer, Batallion Chief, Battalion 7."

Palmer was one of the firefighters who lost his life during rescue initiatives that took place after the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center. His name, along with 342 others, was printed on a sticker and placed on a flag. Each one symbolized the life of a person who sacrificed their life to save others.

For 24 hours, every one of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District stations had 343 flags on their lawn; the number is equivalent to the amount of firefighters' lives lost in the days after Sept. 11.

About 30 minutes ago, the flags were taken down.

Engineers Tony Eggimann, Tim Bogner, and Acting Captain Eric McGlennon somberly removed the flags from the lawn of Station 6 in silence. The only sound was the flapping of the flags, and the rumbling engines of cars that drove down Santa Cruz Avenue.

The voice of a man driving by broke the silence.  

"You guys should leave 'em up," he said.