by Aidan Turowski
Daily Lobo
Students passing by the Duck Pond on Friday witnessed thousands of miniature American flags decorating a grassy hill.
Members of the Reagan Freedom Society of New Mexico placed flags on the south side of the pond in remembrance of those who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The Never Forget Project, sponsored by Youth America Foundation, is a nationwide memorial service aimed at college campuses that ignore the anniversary of the attacks, according to the organization's Web site.
Bob Cornelius, statewide chairman of the Reagan Freedom Society, said the 3,000 flags represented lives lost during the attacks.
"But as the day goes on, it's like this is a memorial - we're remembering these guys," he said.
Ryan Brightbill, founder of the Reagan Freedom Society, handed out posters, bumper stickers, pins and occasionally spoke with students as they passed by the memorial. He said people don't remember Sept. 11, 2001.
"I believe the American public today looks somewhat more toward the future, and they forget the past," Brightbill said.
Student Marshall Martinez, former president of the UNM College Democrats, disagreed with Brightbill. He said not everyone has forgotten about the terrorist attacks.
"I think it's horrible to insinuate that people have forgotten," Martinez said. "I think that's the sort of political battle cry that some conservatives are turning Sept. 11 into."
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Cornelius said not everyone has forgotten about Sept. 11.
"We don't insinuate everybody forgot," he said. "We're just saying we should never forget."
Danny Hernandez was hanging out at the Duck Pond on Friday. At first, he thought the flags represented something different.
"I thought it was probably the number of soldiers who died in Iraq," Hernandez said. "When you see an American flag in the ground, you think of a dead soldier."
He said America has more immediate concerns such as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the war in Iraq.
"I understand that four years ago we had some airplanes run into some buildings and people died and it was a sad thing," he said. "But we have people we need to be concerned about right now."
Miguel Trujillo was on his way to work, but stopped by the Duck Pond to see what was going on. He said getting caught up in the events of Sept. 11 would slow down efforts of other war protesters such as himself.
"A lot of people got killed," Trujillo said. "But the terrorists who did it are long gone, and we're mistakenly making others suffer."
Cornelius and Brightbill, along with five other members of the Reagan Freedom Society, spent more than two hours spreading the flags across the hill.
Cornelius said there are lessons to be learned from the terrorist attacks.
"The lessons we learned from Sept. 11 is that we're not immune to the deficiencies of the world," he said.
Martinez said the display did not garner the reaction the group had hoped for. He said students are focused on social engagements as opposed to national issues.
"The real problem is our generation and the students on campus," he said. "They would rather not pay attention to anything going on around them."
He said the flags were a pretty sight and it's important to remember the anniversary of Sept. 11.
"I think it's important for people to remember what happened on Sept. 11," Martinez said. "I am also concerned with the type of remembrance that we have."
