In honor of the sacrifices local military veterans made in service to their country, American flags will now fly on Veterans Bridge in Chattanooga year-round.
Thirty flags were raised Thursday, Dec. 4 during a ceremony at the Bluff View Art District Sculpture Garden, which overlooks the bridge. The flags replaced the 30 raised on May 15, 2014, which will be folded and presented to the families that donated them.
City of Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke, who presided over ceremony, recognized by name the 30 veterans the newly raised flags represent. “Each of the flags hanging behind me has a story about a person and a family behind it that reminds me of what a special city, state, and country we live in,” he said.
A community-wide effort made the presence of the flags above Veterans Bridge possible. For the last decade, an anonymous donor supplied the funds each year to replace the flags hanging on the bridge – a total of $40,000. Last year, the Transportation Department was notified that the donor would no longer be able to provide those funds. In an effort to ensure the bridge continues to fly American flags, the city announced the Veterans Bridge Flag Initiative.
Through the initiative, any group or individual who wishes to honor a service man or woman can do so by donating the cost of a flag. Each flag costs $75, and flies on a numbered pole on the bridge. Honorees receive a proclamation recognizing their service to the country and indentifying the pole number from which their flag flies.
“What happened next was amazing,” Mayor Berke said. “We got call after call, and heard story after story about the bravery of our citizens.”
Typically, flags fly on Veterans Bridge only from May to November because of the cost of replacing flags damaged by harsh winter weather. But due to the popularity of the Veterans Bridge Flag Initiative, local residents donated enough money to ensure American flags will on the bridge year-round.
“We filled up 30 poles relatively quickly last year and had more donations than we could use at one time, so we decided to have flags on Veterans Bridge all year,” Berke said. “This was possible because of how our community feels about veterans and the way many of you sitting here today feel about your family members and your country.”
Mayor Berke then called the veterans whose service the flags honor by name, asking them or the family members representing them to stand. “This day was made possible because of you, because of the sacrifices you made, because of the incredible work you did out of patriotism to your country,” he said. “As you drive across Veterans Bridge, please think about your own family members as well as the other people we saw standing here today.”