that's the way it was that day. >> come here. one, two. >> coming out. >> let's go. >> we got some donations. we put it all together. it was supposed to be just 2002 to show new york city what 443 firefighters look like in one room, and it turned into a tradition now of the new york

city fire department. for every year we remember brothers we lost on september 11, 2001. it's a very nice tribute. very simple, but yet very impactful. >>ly get my balls broke about this. i know this is a good thing, so that's why i don't mind talking about it. >> we appreciate this. >> you have no idea what the sacrifice truly is. >> on a day when close to 3,000

people were killed in three cities, a lot of misses come up afterwards about what really happened, but, in fact, we have a record of what happened. never before had so many people had so many cameras in one place to document one event. there were thousands and thousands of pictures taken that day of death, of destruction, but one picture that day emerged that gave us the sort of sense of hope, and it was a picture of three firemen raising a flag taken at 5:00 that afternoon. >> americans saw this image. they began to plaster it to tattoos to ticket stubs, coffee cups. it was the most reproduced image of this new millennium. >> it was all over. everywhere you turned. >> then they still raise it up like it was half cut or half burned. some of it was still damaged,

but they still put it up to show that even though we're sdajed we're still rising to the top. >> it was in our local newspaper. >> i've seen that picture everywhere. >> this picture became how we said patriotism. >> the flag really came from the back of a yacht. >> we had our office in the world trade center on the 89th floor of world trade center one, which was the first building hit. we lived on chamber street about two blocks away from the world trade center. our apartment faced the world trade center, so we actually could see the planes going into the building. our boats were at north cove marina, which was right outside the world financial center, which is attached to the world trade center.

>> ae third firefighters billy eisengrime. >> unfortunately, we were told right away that this was our flag. told us that same day. he said, you know, by the time he got to the boat had he had taken the flag, and he went over and saw our flag pole and he saw the flag that they raised. >> this is our pole. >> the pole was right there. >> they took the pole, and they actually transfer the flag into another pole, larger one. >> so we knew right away it was our flag and it was there. we just didn't do anything about it. our whole life was downtown. we actually met in the world trade center in 1975. you know, we lived on chamber street. we would walk down by the river and go to the office, and it was

just very pretty and anything you needed was in the building, and you could go to lunch. you could go to dinner and walk home afterwards, and it was very simple. it's sad every time i think about how nice life was then. >> in new york this flag has found a new home. it was hoisted by firemen over the world trade center rubble september 11th just hours after the twin towers were destroyed by terrorists. today a few blocks away it was raised over city hall. in between the flag has flown over seven military ships, including the u.s.s. theodore roosevelt, which recently returned from duty near afghanistan. >> while the flag was a center sees of a famous photograph, the flag itself became something of an artifact, an icon as well. >> it was supposed to be donated to the smithsonian, and we were negotiating the terms and just how, you know, the name of the

boat and just simple stuff, and -- with our attorney to do it. >> about a year after 9/11 the yacht owners asked for the flag back for a little ceremony on their boat, and, of course, the fdny and the city complied. they thought this was a good idea, and they gave it to them. >> when we got the flag, we were quite stunned that it was the wrong flag. this flag could wrap around us, and we said, okay, this is not a five foot flag because this wraps around the two of us, and we're not the thinnest people on earth, and it still wraps around us. we knew right away it was the wrong flag. >> this is another flag that somehow became substituted for the original flag. where is the original flag? they went back to the mayor's office. >> the city never called. they never did anything. they don't seem to care. they're very happy to make it sound like the flag is here and it's this big flag, and this is the flag and that big flag has everybody's signature on it.

so they're quite happy to say this is the flag, and leave it alone like that. >> to this day no one knows what happened to that flag. this flag is at one of the fire departments. >> smithsonian or something. i don't know what happens to it. >> it deserves to be up in the sky. >> i would think it would be in a museum. that it would go to the museum and be in the relics that they've collected for the museum. >> this is the icon of a century, this flag, and it's not any excuse for anyone to not find the flag. >> then rudy giuliani had passed the torch to -- when they said what happened to the flag? his answer was -- >> i don't know where osama bin laden is even. >> this is the answer of a mayor. >> if i believe that if giuliani was -- giuliani would have found it.

>> that was quite a picture. hmm, hmm, hmm. >> here. >> i do. i probably saw it somebody probably showed this to me sometime on the 11th or 12th before it was in the paper. whoever actually thought of just taking it exactly that time, the firefighters and doing it performed like a tremendous service to the country. ♪

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to the newspaper that this photographer worked for, which is "the burton record." my recollection is that he was on the jersey side. >> on the jersey side. >> use aing telephoto lens to capture that image. that's what i recall. >> a photographer from the paper. that's possible. >> there's a story about that -- about that image. it was taken by tom franklin, who was a photographer for "the record" "the bergen record and just happened to be there. he was actually down to i think 30 frames left in his camera, but he was there at that moment when they hoisted the flag, and he shot it. >> tom's photo comes in, and i remember richard jilly, photo editor brings me over, and he says you got to see this. you got to see this. we huddled around the computer, and he brings up this photo. >> that popped out because of the flag. all the pictures, whoever sent them. everything was -- had this grayish blue tint to it, and

there you saw the red, white, and blue, and you automatically double click it. it opened up. i sat there, and i said that's an incredible picture, and danielle was standing behind me and said that's nkt a picture. it's an icon. >> if you look at tom's strip, they're okay pictures, but it was only one picture out of that whole strip that was the icon picture. you know, you could be in this business your whole life. you're going to get one picture your whole lifetime. that's it. just one. also, goit to be honest with you, i'm saying that looks like joe -- i've seen this image. i've seen statues, and it was like this connectiveness. almost the same. the same setup. i think that's what really made it happen. millions of people are able to associate that image because they've seen that image once before. >> obviously it's a similar setup, but it never struck me that way. did he set that up? >> well, there's two original

flags from iwo jima. there's a small one that they put up first and general howland smith looked up and said not big enough, and in true marine corps fashion, he ordinaried another outfit to raise a larger flag that would be more visible, and it is the second flag raising that joe rosenthal took the famous photograph of. it was not planned. it was not staged. it was guys doing their job, and happy to be doing it. it was a lucky shot, but what a great shot and what a great piece of art. >> a single photograph told the story. >> it fired the imagination of all americans. expressing the unity, drive, and determination of people. a symbol of american courage. >> before 9/11 the biggest selling issue on the newsstand of news week and history had been the week that princess

diana died. particularly a big historic moment. people not only buying more magazines, but they keep them. when we saw the three firefighters hoisting the flag at ground zero, i said that would be a great image for the muse newsweek cover, and combined with the line god bless america, that i could imagine people saying i'm going to keep this, i'm going to keep this and show my children or grandchildren what happened on this day and how we bounced back. it absolutely dwarfed any previous cover of "newsweek" in terms of newsstand sales despite people had seen the image every place else. >> the firefighters have never spoken. they let the picture speak for themselves. the only time they've given interviews is for print media, and very rarely have allowed a camera in their lives. they think in terms of we, not me. >> that's what all firefighters are like. so to see these three firefighters do it said to me this reflects all 1 ,000. this is all 11,000 would feel the same way. >> for the photographer who took

the picture, tom franklin, who was sort of a bittersweet thing. he became famous for taking this image, for capturing a moment, and, yet, it wasn't his. it was the bergen county record that had the copyright. it was appropriated by -- for all these different uses by all these different people. >> i received more attention than i ever dreamed, and it's been overwhelming, and we've had thousands of phone calls at the office for people wanting to buy pictures and publications that want to publish it and billboards and people make tapestries, and it's very -- you know, it's made me feel very uncomfortable, and i appreciate, you know, getting that kind of recognition, but it's been, you know, a little uncomfortable. >> it became something that people clutched to their breast. this was my flag raising picture. this is how people perceived it. >> everywhere today there were the flags. >> we said earlier 88,000 flags have been bought.

>> the american people are sending a strong message of solidarity this week in red, white, and blue. >> a rally billed as a show of patriotism the other day turned ugly. >> they don't sdesh to be in our country. they shouldn't be here. >> that's why it's always been more than just a flag and always will be. >> it was a very, very challenging time for this industry. i had never seen the demand like that. desert storm, the demand was pretty great, but 9/11 was a whole other level. a whole other level. >> if there was just a tremendous surge. we just were flooded -- fax, e-mail, phone. it came from every direction. there were people at our doorstep. everyone wanted a u.s. flag. we were up to our eyeballs in stars and stripes at that time. stars, stripes, and wheat fields.

>> he shared the information with, you and he said that was an -- we were proud and honored it was one of our flags, and i think it just completed what that picture was all about. >> i see the rebuilding starting with that photograph. that was the moment on which these three firefighters speaking for all new yorkers and all americans said enough is enough. we're going to fight back. i think it gave me all those emotions because they're so eerily similar to the flag raising at iwo jima. here they are three new york city firefighters. not marines, not soldiers. in a way they were like marines and soldiers because they were the first line of defense that we had against this invasion, attack. we've got over 300 people that are missing that we can't

account for. we believe that many of them are -- it's just a devastating thing. i don't know how the fire department will recover. i don't know how. >> when we lost those guys, for me, you know, he felt like the father that had just lost so many children. these guys are told get out of the building, get out of the building. the south tower fell. get out of the building. okay, boss. i can't. right now i'm helping so and so. you know, it's like it's not like dropping the lady and -- you know, that's the first concern. that's really what bravery is about in my opinion anyway.

>> shortly after 9/11 -- two days later, but it's like a weird thing. i'm told, hey, go to the -- i want you to go to the fire department tomorrow morning. we put up some money for a memorial to the firefighters that have been lost. we wanted to put this in motion. we wanted this memorial to be ready before giuliani leaves office. we immediate to recognize our heroes. peace of mind is important when you're running a successful business.

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>> the fire department -- at the same time, you know, 343 firefighters died, i don't think there was anything that i wouldn't have done in that moment to do something. when i saw the picture, i was incredibly disappointed because i thought it so obvious, this is the kind of repicture of iwo jima. >> this is the original sculpture of the flag raising in iwo jima created by phillip de walden while the battle was still going on, and he completed the original of that. >> 48 hours affect photograph reached the united states. this was only the first of many -- >> this is made. somebody said year about to do this, and one of the guys is, like, sat down and cut it out of a piece of wood. >> ten days later i'm, like, where can i meet the guys?

they're, like, um, well, we're not going to meet these guys. three guys, right? you know, we need three -- we need the three guys. it's real. >> they couldn't have handled themselves any better. they just couldn't have done a better job. they were just three solid guys who just did a great job. i have never talked to them about it. >> there was kind of something slightly wrong about the whole story. someone had suggested that this should be representative. >> they came back and said, okay, we'll have one hispanic one, one black, and one white guy. we were off. we staged the photo shoot, and then we made a presentation to the fire chiefs. >> when i saw it, i said that doesn't look like those guys. that's not the guys that raised the flag. >> i thought aye, aye, aye. it's going to be a problem.

i was the guy that put the flag up, i would have a problem if i saw a statue and it wasn't me. it could be rough. >> raising the flag simply because they knew it was the right thing do do. >> i ignored it that day altogether. i said, oh, my god, you better see this. on every channel. it was like horror. >> hundreds of firefighters -- saying it's an alteration of history. >> it was every news channel. >> i started to receive what clearly was a campaign orchestrated by, i suppose, i don't know, the firefighters union. >> they were terrorized. >> i think some of it was

justified. if you are given changing the image ultimately is -- there will be a cost. >> of course, that was the issue that finally killed the project. people who owned the copyrights said we're fwog sue you. loo they made it too close to that statue, and then made it too different. >> that's the problem with reality, right? it's actually quite specific. >> it's this or it's this, but it can't be both of them. >> when the commission statue was first revealed, you got to imagine what's going on around this time. they're still looking for their bretherin buried beneath the rubble. so many people were lost. 3,000. that was the environment in which this sort of came up. it became contested have i, very wiblg. even who had access to the site. who didn't have access to the site. fighting breaking out. >> quickly things got out of hadn't as hundreds of

firefighters stormed barricades surrounding ground zero. police say they were prepared for a peaceful demonstration by the firefighters union because of a plan to reduce the number of rescuers at ground zero. the mayor says the firefighters' behavior today is completely unacceptable. >> you can't hit police officers. you can't disobey the law. >> in the meantime, this is a hero that -- first responder. all of that stuff was rising. ♪ of the free ♪ and the home of the brave >> these images, particularly this one, had become a call to arms many some way. >> we once again find ourselves in trying times. as a nation we've been tested.

mesh has gotten -- fought for freedom, and with that freedom our pastime has grown into our present time. >> you know who the real heroes are down there. now to the -- >> i remember seeing that and thinking to myself this was not going to be one of those stories where you could in any way feel a sense of objectivity. you were totally invested in that moment and what was happening, watching that flag go back up. whatever boat was leaving, we wanted to be on it. when the roosevelt launched its first air strikes, the flag from ground zero at the world trade center disaster flapped in the foreground. it has become a symbol of american resistance and resolve. that ship was the one that launched most of the aircraft during the initial air campaign against afghanistan.

>> everyone who tumpz the flag has an experience. perhaps they mourn for the souls lost or the innocence we will never have again. >> i wish i wasn't a -- i wish i had a rifle right now and can take care of business. i'm told that's why the flag flies on the t.r. it was new york city's way of saying take care of business. in the waters near pakistan barbara sierra, news channel 3. " and now, there's a plan that lets you experience that "new" phone thrill again and again. and again. can you close your new phone box? we're picking up some feedback. introducing verizon edge. the plan that lets you upgrade to a new verizon 4glte phone when you want to. having what you want on the network you rely on. that's powerful. verizon. upgrade to the new droid ultra by motorola with zero down payment.

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>> why did the navy ask for the flag to begin with? we're not really sure why that happened. >> whether it's betsy ross knitting a flag or whether it's iwo jima or 9/11, there is a flag because that's what unites us. there's no self-pity in that picture. someone said a plane hit the world trade center. the deputy mayor called and rudy said i want you up here, and i drove straight to new york, and i was on the phone most of the way. i was having trouble hearing rudy, so i pulled over.

i pulled over to hear him, and it's this beautiful sunny day, and i'm watching this person and they're absolutely immaculate flower garden just on their hands and knees having a fwood time in their garden, and on the phone rudy is screaming there are people jumping. and at that point i ran back to city hall, and i called -- because of numerous fleet weeks, the deputy mayor had the admiral's phone number with him, and he called and said i need him help. i said -- i don't know where the planes are. i need some air protection here. >> he said can you provide air cover? i said, well, month, this is really a mission for north american air defense command, norad. >> he started telling me, rudy, i got to go to norad.

i can't throw fighters in your air space. i got to talk to the president. i just can't, you know -- i'm pressuring him. >> he said, well, i don't know how to get in touch with norad. i said, well, let me try and get ahold of them. >> he says call me back in ten, 15 minutes. >> i had the staff call out to naval air station oceana where we have our fighters based and told them to arm some of the fighters with sidewinder missiles. >> the admiral is telling me, you know, that he is waiting on clearance from norad. >> when i asked for an update on where we were with getting the aircraft launched, i was told about this peace time restriction, and i say ignore the peace time restrictions. load them and launch the aircraft. send them out there and then we'll try and figure out who is in command. >> and as i'm talking to the admiral and his voice said rudy, rudy, i got the clearance to

come into your airspace, the building starts to shake, and the phone goes dead. as i make it to the front door to try to assist the people that was trapped in the parking lot in the plume, the fighter jets drop in. that set off another round of panic on the street. >> that should be ours. >> from the civil war until 9/11 you were under posse comatatis and the army did not support domestic -- to release jets to support your own city under attack is kind of unprecedented. >> which is really what the navy is all about, and that is the ability to respond very quickly without a lot of instruction from, you know, higher-ups.

♪ all through the night ♪ our flag was still there >> i also did the event for pray for america. i insisted that admiral -- he was my partner from ten minutes in to the end. i insisted that he be in the program. >> admiral robert nader. >> these images of our history are now joined for eternity with the actions of three new york city firemen determined to erect a flagstaff and hoist our colors over the rubble that was the world trade center. >> michael brady, bob nader, how are you doing? do you have a minute? >> i sure do. okay. i got you on speaker phone. we've got some questions with

respect to the flag. you remember under the stadium before the ceremony that you came over and said, hey, i would like you to sign the flag, and i said i didn't think it was appropriate for me to sign it? >> right. >> that flag. the interest is where did the flag come from? how did it get on the roosevelt? >> yes, sir. i'm trying to remember the details. >> i remember governor pataki and mayor giuliani had signed it. >> i know it came from the mayor's office, and we were under assumption it was that flag that was in that iconic photo. we weren't real sure, but that's what the mayor's office had told us at the time. >> that's not the flag that they raised on 9/11. the flag that went to the yankee stadium where it was on the ship could not have been the flag that was in the photograph. >> you want me to ask my

brother? he was one of my drivers. he is the guy that told me that that was going to be a disaster with the statue. he is the one who told me. i didn't get it. so, listen, part of the story they're working on the flag raising, right, from those three guys that put the flag up and everything. the guy is saying to me that they -- he has heard -- he has no idea of the accuracy of it, that you asked for the flag. is that the -- that's correct? >> tell that story again. >> you came to me and the commissioner said we have to get that flag out here. we all said it's going to be a problem because we know the way the firemen can be very possessive about things. and whether it was me or the president or anybody. what we did was we sent the guy up to the press office down there. his name was also gerrard.

i can't remember his last name. we sent him down there to get the flag. he came back. he had the flag. he said this is the flag we brought over. they sent it out to -- >> then we flew it out to the carrier. >> we were -- yes, sir. but we made -- there was a lot of accountability there obviously we made sure we knew the maim and rank and the identity of the person who would have constant custody of the thing on its way over. we were afraid it was going to get lost. >> yeah. >> and somebody would say they just don't know where it is anymore. >> so you think the navy switched flags? you think they never got the right flag? >> the navy, the battle group got it around to several other ships in the battle group, had them fly it, and get it back to the carrier. i remember that was -- there was some concern with, again, the accountability aspect of it, making sure it didn't disappear. >> i think we have better control of that than we did

nuclear weapons. that's a joke. >> nobody -- nobody wanted to say we don't know where the flag is. we took care of that part of it.

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>> how big does that flag look to you? >> if you look at the proportions of the gentleman's arm heats in the middle of the flag to the field alone, it's larger than a three by five. i would say the smallest it would be would be a five by eight. >> yeah, that's not the same flag. doesn't look like it. >> at the time it was not a big event. it was let's get the flag and make sure that it's out on the ships that are doing the strikes. >> that flag brought up emotion that is very difficult to describe. >> i had never seen so many grown men and women cry by touching a piece of fabric. it wasn't just a piece of fabric, was it? >> it's being -- >> american pride runs deep through the ship, and the flag

has become the glue that binds it. >> you see it on tv, but it doesn't really mean -- it just makes what you are doing so much more, wow, meaningful. it makes everything come together for you. makes it all worth it. >> christopher finds comfort in the flag. >> it's an important symbolism because what else? what else are you going to hold as the symbol? you can't say that, oh, it's pain or it's retribution or it's this or that. it's the american flag. that's what we all like in my remarks, you know, tomorrow morning it's going to be raised all over the country. >> what's rudy's recollection of this flag? >> this was the second sunday after september 11th at yankee

stadium. i remember the event very, very well. senator schumer, sunny tsh. >> what's happened in the picture? do you remember that? >> there's only one picture also. >> do i remember who i gave the flag to after that? i don't. i don't. i don't. >> it seems like it's an awful lot of material he is holding. this is a three by five. if you compare the bulk of that material to this, it's definitely a larger flag. you know, we're used to carrying around a three by five. i can pull out any flag off the shelf and know is this a two by three, a three by five just by holding it. i could have my eyes closed, the weight of it. when you get used to dealing with flags every day, you just know. you know, you don't have to look at the tag or the label. you just know that it's that size by the weight of it.

it will vary a little bit, but not very much. >> welcome back to the u.s.s. theodore roosevelt. back on september 11th on the afternoon of the attacks against america three firefighters in new york city raised a flag on a pole in the debris of what was the world trade center. it was an emotional photograph that was captured. it became very famous, and it's been impaired to the photograph of the raising of the flag on iwo jima. today those firefighters are back joined by the speaker of the house, dennis hastert and the new york congressional delegation, and they are going to receive that flag back. >> they got the replacement flag, so the flag that went all over was not that flag. >> i will never forget the smoky odor as the flag was unwrapped in my office. this flag flew high over the ship and pointed the way to afghanistan. tomorrow u.s.s. theodore roosevelt returns home. for now our mission is complete, but the fight against terrorism

continues. this flag which has flown over seven ships is ready to be turned to the city of new york. this mission is complete too. ♪ >> when the carrier came back, we brought it back. we had a ceremony there are people that still swear that is not the flag. >> somewhere between 9/11 and the yankee stadium ceremony, the flag went missing. >> how can a flag just disappear off the face of the earth? we've heard all kinds of strange stories, like somebody cut it up and was selling pieces of it. but i don't think that's true. >> we had a kickoff event last year in front of the star spangled banner at the smithsonian. and oddly enough, pieces of that flag have been cut off and sent to veterans to be buried with them.

i'm glad they stopped it and saved the flag, and that's much less objectionable than selling it. >> i just think somebody has it, and they're not coming forward. >> after this picture was taken, that's when it could have been taken down off that pole that night, and somebody stuck it in their shirt and they threw another one up there because they wanted to save it, memorialize it, or for whatever reason, they didn't want to give that particular flag up. >> i believe it went missing from ground zero within the first ten days. my guess is someone looked at it and said this is a very small flag in a very big space. let's hang a bigger flag. i could see they wanted it to be seen all over. and i don't know what happened to it after that. >> also, when we catch a moment in video that is amazing, we have also seen what happened just before and oftentimes what happens after it. where a still photo leaves more to our imagination, doesn't it? when you see that moment frozen, you have to ask yourself what

did they just experience before that moment. ♪ >> it looked like the reverse of the "the wizard of oz." in "the wizard of oz," it's black and white, and then when you get to oz, it's color. it just was the darkest, gloomiest, paper flying. and i'm thinking where am i? what country am i in? am i watching tv and i'm like no, i'm 45 minutes from my house in bud lake, new jersey.

>> see, it's 81 degrees at 12:30. if you're at home, you get bad news, you start to do things. you know, you find out someone dies, you start to make chicken soup, you start to make dinner, you start to do something to keep yourself busy, to keep yourself occupied. and looking down at these guys, i think that's what they were trying to do. they were just keeping themselves occupied, because you could hear the firemen's pass alarms, emergency aolympic parks going off, that chirping, that constant chirping. and it just keeps going and going and going. and that's the first time that it hit me that there might actually be fatalities of firefighters. there is a line of ambulances, about 15 or 20 ambulances lined up down that -- the other side

of west street that you can get through. all the doors are open on the ambulances. all the stretchers are gone out of the back. and that's it. >> there was really no -- >> is that tom franklin right there? >> oh, yeah. >> was it? >> i should have followed him. i could have got that famous shot. ♪ ♪ unh ♪ ♪ hey! ♪ ♪ let's go! ♪ [ male announcer ] you can choose to blend in. ♪ ♪ yeah! yeah! yeah! or you can choose to blend out. ♪ oh, yeah-eah!

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got another coming in. >> the first pictures i remember shooting were of kind of like the fingers of the skeleton of the outside of the building poking through the smoke. and then getting even closer to it and looking down and seeing like a child's doll on the ground, shooting a few pictures of that. and then seeing a few

firefighters who had just gotten on the scene and were just like -- they didn't even know what to do, you know. they were just standing there looking at this pile, like they didn't have all the equipment yet, and it was this weird feeling of inaction, when everybody wanted to be doing something. and i felt very much that these men who were standing on the pile were looking for their family, brothers looking for lost brothers. i think to me these why the photographs of firefighters are so powerful because it's a projection of our nation at the moment, you know, what we wanted to think of ourselves doing. and i think the images probably worked in concert with the national mood, you know. those firefighters really were looking for each other. but then that reflected back on to us as we were looking at that. so whoever long that lasted, 72 hours, a week, i think that -- those photographs, that imagery contributed to sort of a feeling

that we were like those firefighters for that moment. >> we headed down along the waterfront near the marina. i looked and there were a group of firefighters carrying somebody on a stretcher. as they were walking, they were kicking up the debris. and so you had these billows of white ash. as they passed me, i saw that it was another firefighter. and they carried him down toward the -- where some yachts and other boats were. and sort of down a gangway. >> this is the image here.

>> this is the image there. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. >> you see the rescue boats there. >> and i went on to photograph them loading the wounded firefighter on to one of the boats. and he survived, thankfully. and he contacted me later, asking if i could share some of my photographs so that he could try to piece together what happened to him that day. because he didn't remember. >> on my walk, i kept asking people for film. so i went around, and then i was at the sailing club where all the boats are docked. and that's when i saw this guy, who was apparently freelancing for "the new york times." i never got his name. but he gave me a roll of film. and he turned around, and we saw these firefighters take a flag off a boat. >> there was a flag from the boat down at the yacht club. >> it's not like they went to a

store and bought a flag. >> we were taking a break down at the yacht club, and one of the guys said to me, hey, lou, is it all right if i go get that flag? and i said yeah, sure, go ahead. get the flag. no idea what he was going to do with it. but he went, got the flag. >> i guess i saw the firefighter starting to walk you know. they were going around and i was going in. so the time that i got in, they were coming. and i found a window and i positioned myself at the window. and i only had like 19 frames left, and no more film. and i was on the phone with robert pledge from contact, and then i saw the firefighters coming. i said i got to go, and i hung up on him. >> i came if from west street. and that's where the overpass was. and they were pulling equipment out. but the reason we stopped it was there were a bunch of firemen hanging out. we were trying to find out where

they were taking people, what hospitals they were taking people. we were looking for three other guys from my unit who were missing, scott nicholson, glen and john pettitte. they had just pulled the fire truck out from the rubble, actually drove it out. and they cleared a path, and we walked into the back. and that's where the other photographers were. a fireman motioned that there was something going on in the corner. and when we looked, the firemen were raising the flag. >> i was right over them. and i don't think the firefighters were aware of me. they were just doing what they were doing. and these guys needed to do this for themselves. i think that's really what it was about. they start to raise the flag, and there wasn't much wind, so i'm really saving my last few

frames. and finally the wind comes, and i get a picture of the flag flying, and i think the background had that like grayish-blue sky, and then this light just shining on it. >> i think at one point i almost got run over by a large tractor that was excavating material. and, you know, we didn't really think much of it then, because we had so much other things going on, that this -- it was on the back burner. we never really gave it much thought. whatever footage we came back with that day, it went into a box. and we didn't really think about it. we talked to some other guys there and we moved on. >> and then the firefighters came in, and they said that buildings were collapsing. we had to get out. so we all left. and then building 7 did fall.

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i've been covering civil unrest and civil wars for 30 years. i remember thinking, you know, this is the first time when i was able to actually walk or take the elevator up to the roof of my building to be able to cover the story. immediately after the second tower collapsed, we raced down to ground zero. i remember shooting from one world financial center and looking at this devastation and the firemen and the relief

workers. and there was this flag right below me. and i remember photographing it, because it was there. to me it was part of the scene out the window, but not particularly significant. i don't think i ever connected my flag picture with the flag in that other picture in the sense that i wasn't aware that this was to become an iconic picture. >> seeing this picture like over the years, i almost just assumed that it was right in the middle of the pile, like right in the middle of right in the center. they could have been putting that thing up in front of me and i don't think it would have dawned on me that even that was going to become like such a symbol. at the time, you know, you weren't thinking about the flag. >> at the end of the day, the -- we found scott and john mallins was still down at the site.

but at the end of the day, we still hadn't found glen. >> we all thought it would be like you see in the movies where you have a piece of steel, and someone would be trapped under it, and there would be some air coming in and some water dripping down. and they would come out a week later. we all thought that was a possibility. but the experts told us that first night, which we never really told everybody at the time, because we didn't want to take away everyone's hope. they were right. there was no survivors. and it was -- it was overwhelming. and i can't even say that word, "overwhelming." ever since september 11th, i've been able to say the word "overwhelming" without getting a vision of a widow who came to one of the meetings, and i -- i stood up and said we were overwhelmed that day, and she jumped up and she said you were

overwhelmed? i'm overwhelmed. i have five children and my husband is gone. we failed in giving her husband back. and i'll always see that later when i hear that word, overwhelm. >> as the night went on and people were digging in, and guys moving with cranes, trying to save people, and there you are with this camera, you know, it took me a while to -- i didn't want to do it at first. i felt like, wow, i should be doing something, you know, better. there must be more i could do. >> today's date is september 11th, 2001. approximately 2150 hours, person at the scene of the world trade center terrorist attacks. doing film and video of the scene. >> from the marina side, i

remember thinking it's eerie we were just shooting this video, and nobody else came out of there alive after this. >> so what do you see now? >> there is the flag pole. >> what do you see on the flag pole? >> there is no flag there. hmm. >> the morning we found that, we literally jumped up in the air. >> where is the flag? do you like to travel? i'm all about "free" travel, babe. that's what i do. [ female announcer ] fortunately, there's an easier way, with creditcards.com.

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a lot of firemen over there. the flag. it's gone. so it's gone the first day. it's gone within the first six hours. >> they always assumed that this happened after the picture was published. the picture was first published on the 12th in new jersey. and on the 13th in "the new york post." >> correct. >> so then the question is who took it and why. >> i can't see anybody climbing up there and grabbing it without somebody hey, what are you doing? even though people are busy doing other things. but it should be pretty simple to see a flag if it's there. >> stars, stripes. it might stick out if it's there. >> somewhere in your archives is something that matters. it's like when that guy found a

picture of bill clinton hugging monica lewinsky, you know. five years later, it's this delusion that you tell yourself. i neff throw away a negative. even now i can't delete any pictures that i shoot, which is terrible. sorry. i don't -- i don't remember some people grabbing a flag or something like that. that's where the boats are on this side here. >> yeah. >> where did they raise the flag? i don't even know. >> so here is the bridge across west street. >> right. >> and here in front of this building -- >> that's where i spent the night, in this building. that's the flag pole? >> the other flag pole from the boat is here. here is the one where the flag was. >> i didn't ever realize that was a flag pole. >> it's interesting. these nurses were there. >> yeah, people came to help, i guess. >> so there were a lot of people standing around. >> totally. inside this lobby were other people like them. there was real action happening here, dudes lifting stuff up and

blowtorching all night. >> it does surprise me it's only five hours later. like you said, someone saw it up there. maybe it was wrapped up. maybe it wasn't functioning right and said let's get a better spot for this, and moved it to a different location, put it on a fire truck or something. >> you're saying the flag was still at the site when he went to get it. >> when the mayor -- when the navy wanted the flag, we were under the impression that the flag was still on the flag pole on the site where they raised it. >> so when the guy from the fire department sent the guy from the press down to get the flag, they assumed it was still in the pole, but it had been gone for more than a week. he had no idea where to look for the flag. the only people in the fire department who really knew where the flag-raising happened were the three firefighters. >> and why didn't anyone ask them? >> my guess is they got a flag, but they didn't get the flag. maybe no one knows what flag that is. >> what happened to the flag? >> you know, i don't know

whatever happened with the flag. i think it's been all over the country. pinpointing where it went, i couldn't tell you. >> i didn't connect the boat with this until like weeks later. when i was talking to that "new york times" guy, he saw them take the flag, and he took a picture of it. and i have never been able to figure out who he is. >> there is some -- a lot of hope that the flag will be found. i just cannot believe that anybody -- >> we're going to see this guy soon. >> okay. and who is he? >> we just tracked him down. >> and he's got a flag in his hand. you think that's the flag? >> congratulations. do you know who is this guy? >> we have spent a long time with people trying to find him. >> it's difficult to know from his back. you think it can be one of the three? >> it's a totally different fireman. it's not one of the three. >> to be honest, i'm not sure

what day it was. it was shortly after 9/11, one of the first couple of days. and we had been down searching. we were completely exhausted. and i remember there being so much media on the left side of west street. and there was nobody to the right side of west street. and the last thing you want at that point of your day is to have anybody filming you or take pictures of you. so we wound up going to the right, which is a lot quieter. and on the way, i wound up taking out the flag that i had and taking a look at it. after a few steps, some photographer popped out of nowhere. i don't know where he came from. but he just started snapping, and i took my flag and i just held it up in the air and went back -- went back the walking back to the firehouse. >> you don't want to clean it, you know. there is memory in those ashes. and it's meant to -- it's meant to keep for a long time.

>> it didn't seem fitting to leave the country's colors down in the dust and debris. it felt like you were picking up person almost or something grander than that, some feeling of the country. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] some things are designed to draw crowds. ♪ ♪ others are designed to leave them behind. ♪ the all-new 2014 lexus is. it's your move.

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i'd rather not know where it is. if you had the actual flag, i don't know, you know. just the cynic in me. people want it. they put a price on it. i don't know, then it becomes something else. >> the flag is sort of like the magical object in a way, just like the torah scroll is for jews, where it's a book. it's physical. it didn't have any meaning to it, but everybody imbues it with a certain kind of -- it has a holiness, you know. a torah scroll when you pass, you have to kiss it, you know what i mean? when you see it, you have to stand up. it's like a flag, you know. it's an inanimate object that because of our culture, because of who we are becomes something greater. >> let's just consider what old

glory is. >> it stirs a different sense in all of us. i think there is one meaning of the flag, but many interpretations. and each of us can have a personal connection with that symbol. >> we're not a country based on religion or ethnicity or cultural heritage, we're a country based on ideas and a philosophy. and that's what that flag is. >> it makes us all feel united. it makes us feel like we're bigger than just ourselves. >> and it's not until we're challenged that we reach back at what make us americans. and what that is and what the symbol is the flag. >> if this flag were to be

recovered, what should happen to it? or does it matter? >> it would matter. it would matter. it would matter to me. i think it would matter to the families who lost their loved ones because it's a relic of the day. what happened to these firemen, and where are they? >> well, you know, they don't -- they never wanted this attention in the first place. you know, they never anticipated that this would become this -- >> then everybody's first reaction who is a hero is to say i'm not. >> my name is bill eisengrind. i'm the firefighter on the right. on the left is george johnson, and in the center is dan mcwilliams. it was literally over in just a few minutes. we found a spot and raised the flag. three of us looked at each other, we looked at the flag, and that was that. it was kind of no big deal. i'm sure danny and george feel the same way. we just felt like we had other

things that needed to be accomplished right then. you know, there were thousands of missing people that was our mission to try to find them and bring them home. dealing with a picture on the front of the paper really didn't matter at that point. >> if you were remembered for something, what would you want to be remembered for? >> hmm. i would just like to be remembered as one of the people down there that did what we did to bring these people home. you know, nobody in particular did anything more than the other guy, and everybody did their part. and we brought whomever we could home.

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>> think about the flevery flag guy. our guys. hello, everyone, i'm don lemon. now that you have just watched "the flag", i want to bring in the director, michael tucker. thank you for joining us here in studio. let's talk about the reaction to the film. are you getting any sort of leads on where the flag might be? >> we've received dozens of tips so far. some very credible, some more -- you have to realize there were hundreds of flags at ground zero, and they've been spread across the country. and everyone sort of has a connection to these stories and these flags. >> no, i understand that there was a