It was September 11, 2001. Americans were beginning their workdays, boarding flights, and going about their daily lives when terrorist attacks killed 2,977 people and left a nation grieving.
Twenty-five years later, a memorial at Dordt University will remember those lives one flag at a time.
Reagan Van Beek, a Sioux Center native studying business administration at Dordt and a news intern at Sioux County Radio, is organizing a display of 2,977 American flags on the lawn in front of the university’s Campus Center.
Van Beek and other student volunteers will place the flags Thursday evening, September 10. The memorial will remain open to the campus and broader Sioux Center community throughout Friday before being removed that evening.
One Flag for Each Life Lost
Van Beek took over the effort from a friend who graduated from Dordt, continuing an existing campus tradition.
“And so we’re going to put up that many flags, one flag to remember each person,” Van Beek said.
Last year, organizers fell short of the full count, even after Van Beek purchased additional flags himself. This year, a contact with the Leadership Institute offered to supply flags, ensuring organizers have enough to represent all 2,977 victims.
According to Dordt’s release, Van Beek hopes to arrange the flags in the shape of “9/11,” with the nine evoking the Pentagon and the two ones representing the Twin Towers.
The project also creates opportunities for students to participate. Van Beek said last year’s group grew from approximately five volunteers at the start to about 15 by the end as people walking past stopped to help. The volunteers finished with a group prayer.
Remembering the Past, Looking Ahead
For Van Beek, who was not yet born when the attacks occurred, much of his understanding of September 11 comes from history classes. His parents have also shared where they were when it happened.
He said accounts of the unity that followed the attacks stand out to him, and he sees the flags as a reminder of that shared response during a painful time.
“Something terrible happened and we all knew it, but we were looking forward to brighter times. And I think that we should look forward to brighter times again,” Van Beek said.
His Christian faith also shapes the memorial’s meaning. Van Beek views the attacks as a reminder of suffering in a fallen world, while his belief in Christ’s return offers hope for a future without such violence.
“But there is a brighter world that we can look forward to,” Van Beek said.
