Whispers from the Field of Flags

This article was originally published in October, 2006.

All photos by: Lela Taylor

(SALEM) - Today I visited the field of flags here at River Front Park in Salem, Oregon, the Healing Field. I didn’t anticipate what I would feel as I walked through the rows. I simply just went down there to take some pictures and to see all the flags.

I knew why they were doing the event. I knew it was for the remembrance of our fallen soldiers and the victims of 9/11. I was surprised, though, by the intense emotions I suddenly felt rising in me.

As I slowly walked through the flags, the wind began to gently blow causing the cloth to swipe over my face; I thought I heard a whisper. I turned and looked over my shoulder. I felt the wind brush across my cheek and then felt a flag wrap itself across my shoulder. Time stood still. I stood still.

Suddenly I realized what this field was for. This field of flags was so we would never forget nor take our freedoms for granted. This field was for us to remember how our great country became what it is today.

I am not talking about our “system” or our “government”. I am talking about our people, our land, our heritage and the past battles fought. I felt the shame of how we took the land from the natives when our ancestors landed on the shores of the new America, but I also felt the pride when I thought of the courage of our forefathers when they sought to build a new government and challenged the British King and his army.

I felt the anguish of the many immigrants as they came to this land to begin their new life, usually alone with family and friends left far behind - but they had a dream. It is the accumulation of all of these past events that has shaped our United States of America into the country it is today.

I know there is a lot of dissention with people towards our government. I certainly have some questions I would like answered. “Why did we really attack Iraq?” “Why were we so unprepared for the 9/11 attack?” I do know one thing, though; I hope that any terrorists would not be arrogant enough to think they could somehow come into our country and take us down.

I don’t think the terrorists, nor the people behind them, have really given thought as to what the words “United States of America” truly mean. Do they think they could actually succeed in tearing us apart? Yes, we can and have become disillusioned with our politicians and our government but never disillusioned with the true meaning of our Bill of Rights or our Constitution.

We really do take seriously the words, “We the people. . .” Do they not know that even if we Americans have our little games between our States and that our rivalries sometimes cause tempers to flair or do they really think being a Democrat or a Republican would make that much difference if we had to defend our country. We Americans would band together down to every man and woman in all 50 states and fight to keep the freedoms we have – and we would win!

The Healing Field names each fallen hero

Just thinking about all the blood lines racing through our collective veins – Native Americans, Europeans, African-Americans, Latinos, people of the Asian nations, just about any county on this planet has sent people from their lands to begin anew in America and we have merged together. Think about it!

We Americans could be just one bunch of vicious angry people if someone tried to take our country away.

Suddenly, a stronger wind came up and the flags were whipping around the poles and around the people walking through them as if they were trying to say something. I wondered if maybe the souls of our lost ones were reaching out and saying, “Don’t forget us but don’t use us as a martyr to continue the war.”

We humans on this planet earth need to understand the differences in each country. Our politicians need to realize that just because the democratic system works in America (most of the time anyways), that it just might not be the way it should work in other cultures.

I feel the humanity of the human species is such there should be little tolerance towards genocide or mass murders of other groups just because they don’t believe in God the same way.

I think that the rest of the world should not tolerate such acts and that a United Nations made up of all countries is a good thing and it needs to monitor such acts of violence against innocents and take appropriate action as a group.

I believe that no one country should take it upon itself to wage war upon another country for political or economic gain. Our planet is getting smaller as humanity grows and we need to look after each other and make the resources work towards the good of all.

Suddenly my reverie breaks. The wind subsides and a flag comes to rest on my shoulder, making me turn. It felt as if a hand was gently touching me; it seemed a voice whispered to me to turn and watch. I saw a small child holding his grandmother’s hand. I saw the grandmother reach out and touch her husband’s arm as he reached up and brushed a tear off his cheek.

The wind becomes still. The flags are like solitary statues, unmoving. I slowly walk back to my van and wonder if anything I could write about on how I felt would make any difference.

What I have had to say has been written before and much more eloquently, but maybe, if you took that walk through the park, you need to just sit down and write about what you felt as you walked through – The Healing Field.