COLUMBIA, S.C. — Saturday marks 20 years since the terrorist attack on September 11. Students at the University of South Carolina commemorated the lives lost that day by creating a display of 3,000 flags on Davis Field.
Ben, an ROTC student that helped set up the flags, said he saw "the first recordings of some of the people in the towers, I remember that memory distinctly," he recalled. He added that it made him really angry and sad.
For ROTC student Grayson, it's his first time spending the anniversary away from home in New York.
"I’m from New York and I know a lot of people that were affected by this and they deserve to be remembered, so that’s what really had me out here,” he explained while recreating the Twin Towers.
Grayson and Ben were both born a couple years after the terrorist attack, but it still hits home for them.
“We try and remember why we do what we do,” Ben said.
As volunteers worked the 3,000 flags into the ground, shapes formed on the field of the World Trade Center, Pentagon and state of Pennsylvania.
Jodi Symington, President of the Student Veterans Association, called 9/11 "absolutely mind blowing.”
She experienced the aftershock of September 11, 2001 first hand.
"To actually become part of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq and be boots on the ground was a completely different experience, but that was a huge part of my life and now to come back here and still see that outpouring on the anniversary of September 11 is incredible,” said Symington.
She was in high school on that fateful day in 2001. Then she served in the military for eight years as a combat medic.
“For me, this is an amazing event close to my heart. I'm out of the service now, so for me this is a huge part of staying in service to the country, just putting out flags and reminding people how powerful patriotism is,” she added.
20 years later, Symington hopes the flag displays will remind people of the lives lost and sacrificed for our country.