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FOB Salerno Soldiers pay silent tribute to 9/11


By ~Army Spc. Tobey White, TF Duke ——--January 31, 2011

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KHOWST PROVINCE – A color guard of Soldiers from Co B, 404th CAB raised a flag up the flagpole at FOB Salerno. It’s an act performed everyday by U.S. Soldiers across Afghanistan and, indeed, across the world.

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This flag, however, is different. It’s one that has flown at Ground Zero in N.Y.C. after 9/11, and holds special meaning to the 404th Soldiers, based out of Fort Dix, N.J., many of whom are from the N.J., and N.Y. areas. The flag has been traveling around RC – East, visiting FOBs, while in the care of Command Sgt. Maj. Michelle Fournier, who's been the keeper of those colors since March 1, 2010. The flag will be returned to Ground Zero in July, and put on display at the Ground Zero Museum. Certificates of Freedom from each group the flag visited will be inducted into the museum along with the flag. “The flag is symbolic of America, and the strength of Americans,” Fournier said. For many of the Soldiers in the 404th, the flag represents a day that has been burned into their memory. Maj. Paul Ferreira, cmdr of Co B, 404th, grew up in the shadow of the World Trade Center. He said that he watched it fall Sept. 11, and lost friends when it came down. Ferreira said that this was the first time he’d seen the WTC flag raised while in Afghanistan. Lt. Col. Teresa Wolfgang, 404th cmdr., and a resident of N.Y.C, said that she was in Dallas when the planes hit. Her uncle worked in the Pentagon and had left work 40 minutes before the plane hit, destroying his office. Wolfgang said that being stewards of the flag is a great obligation for her battalion, and one undertaken with pride. They try to get the flag to as many FOBs as possible, and are often greeted with gratitude by Soldiers who simply want to see the flag, or take photos with it. “It’s important for it to make the rounds, because 9/11 is where it all started,” Wolfgang said. “We always have to remember how this started, so that we can continue forward.” “Circulating the flag shows the attacks of 9/11 haven’t diminished what the American flag stands for,” said 1st Sgt. Dennis Hicks of N.Y.C.


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