NZ flag comes home from twin tower ruins

Prime Minister Helen Clark today unveiled the display at Parliament of a New Zealand flag which was recovered from the rubble of New York’s World Trade Center earlier this year.

The flag, which had been stored in an underground level of the World Trade Center complex before it was destroyed in a terrorist attack on 11 September last year, was presented to Helen Clark in New York last month by two New York Police Department officers.

The flag has been displayed over a staircase landing off the first floor foyer of Parliament Buildings.

Helen Clark said the flag had been displayed as a memorial to the police and fire officers who died while responding to the terrorist attacks on the United States on 11 September.

“The heroic actions of emergency workers on that day will never be forgotten. Many of them died and many others were left injured and emotionally scarred by that act of cold-blooded violence,” Helen Clark said

“The officers who handed back the flag in New York told me they were proud to be able to do so because of the respect they have for their own flag.

“The displaying of the flag in our Parliament will serve as a permanent reminder of the heroic actions of those who died trying to save others,” Helen Clark said.