It is 8 am on Tuesday morning and three women are heading up the hill to Main Street in Freeport, Maine. A gust of wind catches the flags they carry and the sun illuminates the billowing colors of Old Glory. Garbed themselves in red, white and blue they catch the eye of the locals heading off to work and horns begin to enliven the morning. They have made this journey every Tuesday morning since 9-11. and each 9-11 they are joined by friends, neighbors, veterans and patriots from across the state and country as a special Tribute is held to honor those who protect our Country and our Communities.

Flags still flying

Spirited 9-11 Tribute

A gathering of Patriots

7 years & still Standing

With Great Love & Deep Gratitude

The State of Maine has long been known for a high degree of patriotism. Turnouts to honor patriots from Civil War hero Joshua Chamberlain to modern day heroes always draw substantial turnouts. 9-11 remembrances are no exception. From State House in Augusta where the Governor, State senators and representatives gather on the steps of the Capital to observances held by veteran's groups around the State Mainers step forward. One of the outstanding observances is to be found in Freeport where the American spirit will soar.

The Freeport Flag Ladies, who have been holding American flags on Main Street in Freeport every Tuesday morning since 9-11-2001, will be joined by people from around the State and visitors from across the Country. They will gather to honor those who perished on 9-11, the men and women who are serving our Country in the military, and police, fire and rescue workers

School children, veterans, soldier's families and patriotic citizens will line the street with flags waving. Amidst early morning traffic will be an open parade. Cheers and applause will resound as brightly decorated vehicles, Patriot Guard, and Rolling Thunder and other motorcyclists with flags flying roll through. Fire, police and rescue trucks will join the parade being cheered by the onlookers and antique cars will add to the colorful mix.

At 8:45 traffic will stop and silence will descend as heads are bowed in remembrance of the lives lost in the Towers, the Pentagon and the fields of Pennsylvania.

This will be the 7th Anniversary of the 9-11 Tribute held by the Flag Ladies. Many of those in attendance have come every year since the 1st Tribute was held in 2002.

In addition to holding the flags each Tuesday morning through snow, sleet, wind and rain they travel to Bangor International Airport, which is a two hour drive from Freeport, to join with the Maine Troop Greeters meeting flights heading to Iraq and Afghanistan. The Troop Greeters have been meeting flights in Bangor since Desert Storm.

Sporting their signature flag shirts the Flag Ladies wait with smiles and handshakes as the soldiers enter the terminal.

In the next hour and a half they take over 300 pictures of the soldiers as they talk to their families on a cell phone, have a snack, talk to friends or sleep stretched out on the floor. Each soldier whose picture is taken is given a small gift with a website link on it. The families can go to the site and download this last picture of them still on American soil. It is a relief to the families to see their loved one with a smile and relaxed among their buddies.

The Flag Ladies can often be seen struggling up the hill pushing a dolly loaded with packages headed to Iraq and Afghanistan. On a recent trip to the Post Office they were mired in a pot hole and a passing motorist was kind enough to help them on their way. They are filled with tasty treats, games, magazines, and toys ? anything that might bring a smile to the face of a soldier. Other packages head to field hospitals with shorts and flip-flops for wounded soldiers that are ambulatory, and neck pillows to provide a little comfort for soldiers being transported to Germany and then home to the United States. At the request of the soldiers many packages are shipped to Afghanistan filled with hats, mittens, shoes and coats to help the children survive the bitter Afghan winters. Our soldiers have built many new schools for the Afghan children but wrote to say that many of the children have no school supplies and that a pencil is considered a treasure so still more packages go out heavily laden with pencils, pens, crayons, erasers, pencil sharpeners and paper. The gratitude of the children has saved many a soldier's life as they often know where an IED is buried or an ambush set up.

The American Legion, VFW and Am-Vets cannot be outdone in community support. They raise money to support scholarships, Special Olympics, children's camps and countless worthy causes.

The Veterans are not forgotten in the work that they do. The Flag Ladies will come to any of their events to help or show support. When the annual reunion of the Shipmates of the USS Boston was held in Portland they were invited to address the gathering. Many of the veterans were from the Vietnam war and had never been properly thanked and welcomed home. There were tears in many eyes as Elaine Greene welcomed them home and the Flag Ladies presented each of them with the card that is given to each of the soldiers that they meet who are deploying today. They speak to various veteran's groups and help them with fund raising. In return they have received the Americanism Award from the Maine American Legion and were nominated for the prestigious Silver Helmet Award by the Am-Vets. Many of the veterans from posts not doing a 9-11 remembrance will again travel long distances to come stand with the Freeport Flag Ladies on this 7th anniversary.