O’FALLON, IL. – Seven members of the Looking Glass Prairie Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, visited the Flags of Valor display at Art Hill in Forest Park in St. Louis to pay respects during a display held on the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The display featured 11 miles of red, white, and blue United States flags across Art Hill. Each flag honored a first responder, military member, or civilian who was lost.
“The only sound heard was the tinkling of metal hitting metal as each of the 7,620 dog tags hit the metal flagpoles,” said Kimberly Dalrymple, chapter regent. “Each of the 3×5 foot flags waved silently in the gentle breeze. Each pole held a dog tag and photo identifying the hero.”
The Looking Glass Prairie Chapter sponsored four flags in the display. The flags honored Army Sgt. Todacheene, Marine Lance Cpl. Smith, Army Pfc. Cournoyer, and Marine Lance Cpl. Reppuhn. All were killed in Iraq. The names and biographies of the fallen were read aloud at a chapter meeting.
Chapter members also located flags for New York Police Department firefighter Russell and Air Force Lt. Schulte, both of whom had ties to chapter members.
Flags of Valor St. Louis is sponsored by America’s Heartland Remembers, a nonprofit organization that has donated $500,000 to various military charities since its founding. The Art Hill display is considered one of the largest such displays in the country.
