Stewart Stevens stands in front of a 48-star flag that hangs in front of his home. The flag was presented to his mother by the Marine Corps after his brother was killed during the invasion of Guam during World War II in 1944.
In the face of terror, Americans have expressed their solidarity by flying American flags.
At least two flags in Carson City may look slightly unusual upon first glance. Both have 48 stars and are flown in memory of someone who gave or risked their life for the freedom the flag represents.
The creases from 57 years in a package are still visible on the canvas flag hanging on the side of Stewart and Helen Stevens' Jacks Valley Road home. Stewart's brother, Norman, was killed during the World War II attack on Guam in July 1944. Norman was buried in Guam, and the flag was presented to his family in Brookings, S.D., later that year. It had never been opened until Sept. 11. Instructions in its package included a version of the Pledge of Allegiance minus "under God," reading instead, "one nation indivisible."
Stewart Stevens tears up as he recalls his days in the Merchant Marines, how his ship landed in Guam just two weeks after his brother's death. Norman's remains were later moved to the Punch Bowl in Hawaii.
The terrorist attacks were a strong enough reminder of Pearl Harbor, Stevens said he had to fly a flag. He thought only briefly whether he should or shouldn't fly the flag, but after not being able to find a new flag, brought the old one out.
"It was time to show my memory of my brother," he said. "What good is a flag if you don't show it? It represents the togetherness, that we're all on the same side."
The flag hanging from David and Christal Gardner's new flagpole in East Carson City rested on the casket of David's father Floyd, a decorated World War II veteran. He died in 1960.
Floyd Gardner received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his service as a paratrooper on the French front.
The Gardners couldn't find a flag either,.
"Then it dawned on me we had a flag," David Gardner said. "I said, 'Let's fly it and set it free.'"
It's also a way to recognize his father and his service to his country.
"After all this time, would be an honor for this flag to fly in honor of what he did in the armed service," Christal Gardner said.
The flag waves from a 30-foot pole the Gardner's shined lights on. In the concrete in the base of their new pole, they wrote "In memory of 9/11/01."
