KING CITY — Sept. 11 will forever be a day marked by solemn observances of the terrible tragedy that occurred when terrorists attacked our country and killed nearly 3,000 innocent Americans in 2001. For each of the 23 years that followed, we pause to pay our respects on what we now call Patriot Day.
One enduring act of remembrance each year is shown by lowering all U.S. flags to half-staff on Sept. 11. So when U.S. Forest Service employees at the Monterey Ranger District discovered that the rope on the flagpole at the district office (ranger station) in King City had snapped last week, there was real concern that they wouldn’t be able to commemorate Patriot Day by flying the flag at half-staff.
Replacing the rope on a flagpole requires looping the rope through the pulley at the top of the pole, and the district didn’t have a bucket truck available.
When the King City Fire Department learned of the situation, they dispatched a boom truck to the ranger station at 406 S. Mildred Ave. KCFD firefighters Joe Kerr, Anthony Storelli and Robert Eddington arrived Tuesday evening (Sept. 10) and Eddington scaled the ladder to replace the rope.
Wednesday morning (Sept. 11) at 8 a.m., in honor of those we lost on 9/11, district staff were able to raise the flag and then respectfully lower it to half-staff using their new flagpole rope.
Thank you, King City Fire Department, for stepping up to assist your neighbors in their time of need, and reminding us of that community spirit that we all felt in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001.
