Jacksonville Fire Fighters Send Flag to Ground Zero

From left: Jacksonville Local 122 President Randy Wyse, Local 122 fire fighter Skip Smith, Representative Ander Crenshaw and Jacksonville Fire Department Chaplain Percy Golden

February 17, 2010 – An American flag erected on a man-made island off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, commemorating the 343 FDNY fire fighters who died on September 11, 2001, is on its way to Ground Zero. The flag will be put on display for a few weeks and then return to Jacksonville for permanent display.

Jacksonville Local 122 member Skip Smith passed by Find Island, a mound of dredged material from the construction of the Wonderwood and the Beach Boulevard bridges, every day.

“It looked like an unclaimed island just calling for a flag,” says Smith. He and a couple of other Local 122 members erected the flag on September 11, 2009.

Upon hearing about the fire fighters’ flag project, the Jacksonville Transit Authority – which owns Find Island – supported the idea immediately. It agreed to rename the island “Hill 343” in honor of New York’s fallen and even worked with Jacksonville fire fighters to get a solar-powered light source to illuminate the flag at night.

News of the flag also spread to U.S. Representative Ander Crenshaw (R-FL)’s office. Representative Crenshaw contacted the New York City Veterans Affairs Office to request that the flag be temporarily displayed at Ground Zero. The veterans’ office agreed and the flag is currently on its way to New York.

Hill 343 is visible from Atlantic Boulevard driving over the Intercoastal Waterway in Jacksonville.