9/11: Revisiting Everett’s role in paving American history

EVERETT, wash. – Everett Police Department Sgt. Mike Atwood returned home from a cemetery shift in Snohomish County Jail on September 11, 2001. The last thing he expected was to be woken up by his family, who informed him of the attacks on the World Trade Center.

Sgt. Mike Atwood

He watched the TV towers collapse, speechless, thinking to himself, “The world will never be the same.” On that day, he could never have predicted that in 15 years he would honor the Americans who reacted and fell and would ultimately add to American history as a whole.

A year after the 9/11 attacks, Mike Atwood joined the Everett Police Department, and in 2016 while working for the Major Crime Unit, his partner James Massingale was called to the captain’s office with an urgent matter. Atwood became concerned after a while, wondering if there was a serious problem. When Massingale finally showed up, his face was marked with thoughtfulness. Atwood started joking him about being in trouble and asked what the meeting was about, but Massingale kept repeating that he couldn’t talk about it.

A short time later, Massingale approached Atwood with a special case. An American flag had been handed over to the department that may have been linked to September 11th.

Thomas E. Franklin’s iconic photo of three New York firefighters setting up an American flag on part of the wrecked World Trade Center became instant and remains one of the most famous and identifiable images captured on that fateful day. But just five hours after this photo was taken, the flag disappeared.

Brien Browne, a former Marine Corps collector of American historical artifacts, was watching the History Channel from his Everett home when his jaw dropped. The episode of Lost History revealed that the famous U.S. flag from Franklin’s photo – the flag that was hoisted and celebrated from Yankee Stadium to the Arabian Sea – wasn’t the flag they thought it was. The program asked if the flag broadcast around the world was the wrong one, where was the real flag? Browne knew the answer; it was up in his collection.

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Years earlier, an unnamed New Yorker married an Everett woman and returned to New York City, where the man had been employed as a first aider. The man responded to the call to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, cutting off an American flag after Franklin photographed it, folded it, and put it in his pocket. He would eventually die of health problems directly related to responding to the terrorist attacks. Alone and devastated, the husband’s widow decided to return to her hometown of Everett to be closer to the family and took her husband’s possessions and the flag with her.

When she was finally able to pick up her late husband’s belongings, the woman gave the flag to Browne’s friend, who then gave it to Browne at a barbecue and noted his interest in American historical relics.

Shortly after Browne realized what was in his possession, the doorbell rang at 1 Everett Fire Department Station on Rucker Ave and 36th Street. Knowing that unexpected announcements like this typically involve medical emergencies, Everett Fire Fighters responded urgently to the call, only to see a man standing safe and sound outside the station. The man held out a Joanne Fabric and Craft plastic bag to the confused firefighters and told them he had a piece of American history. The man was Browne.

Firefighters withdrew the flag and found it was wrapped with rope and electrical tape, removed it to give the flag a better look, and put it back in their pocket to hand over to administration.

During a discussion of the history of flags between Deputy Chief Everett PD and Assistant Fire Marshall of the Everett Fire Department, the Fire Marshal revealed that a flag had been flipped by a citizen the previous day, claiming the famous flag from Franklin’s iconic photo. Amazed, the deputy chief asked to see the artifact that was in the fire marshal’s office and immediately gave it to the evidence room to ask Massingale to verify that this insane claim was justified.

“Detective Massingale is a former Army Ranger and an incredibly patriotic man. It was really fitting that he should be assigned this case, ”Atwood told the Lynnwood Times.

When Atwood and Massingale received the flag, they treated it as evidence from a crime scene and were unable to reassemble the flag as it was admitted. They took pictures of them, grabbed them while wearing gloves, and began their investigations, which would continue for the next two years. Atwood told the Lynnwood Times that it looked like a match, except for the number of wraps of electrical tape around the rope. The original flag from Franklin’s photo was taken from the Star of America yacht docked in the Hudson River and erected with duct tape and rope on a 20-foot post found in the rubble of the attacks.

The two-year investigation was kept under high security, with only about four people in total ever knowing what was going on in order to avoid problems such as theft or tampering.

Detective Steve Paxton of the Washington State Crime Lab was called in to do the forensics for authentication. When Atwood and Massingale reached out to Paxton’s manager about the case, an employee in their office collided with a computer desk that activated the monitor that displayed Franklin’s photo as a background image. It was then that the importance of this case became clear.

Analyzed by Bill Schkeck of the Spokane Washington State Patrol Crime Lab, the flag submitted by Browne was found to be America’s missing flag. In his forensic report, the DNA of the FDNY firefighters who arrested him on Sept. 11, along with the rubble from the collapsed World Trade Center towers, was conclusive.

When the two Everett detectives held a meeting to discuss this finding, they invited Edward Golden, a colleague of the Everett PD officer, who walked towards the flag during the Golden 11th attacks, grabbed it, held it to his face and said, “That’s the smell I remember; I will never forget this smell. ”

“[Golden is] Probably the nicest person I’ve ever met. His name is Golden, and he’s pretty much that, ”Atwood told the Lynnwood Times.

When the 9/11 flag was last folded in Everett before the History Channel and Chub Insurance shipped it back to New York City, Golden was selected to pay the honor.

“Every American, and even non-American, has a belief, feeling, and thought when they see an American flag. The perception of this flag is different for everyone; everyone has had different experiences in this country. . . and I think so every time I see an American flag, “Atwood told the Lynnwood Times.

To date, the 9/11 flag is on display at the 9/11 Museum in New York City.

“Flags are symbols – symbols of hope, symbols of strength, symbols of us. But on this trip I also noticed that flags are mirrors, this flag in particular. And when you watch it, you will see what you need and you will see something about yourself, ”said Brad Melter, History Channel and host of the show Lost History.