This is the thirty-sixth state patch made for the National 9/11 Flag restoration project. The National 9/11 Flag was brought to Tucson, Arizona on July 8, 2011, the sixth month anniversary of the shooting in Tucson, for a display and stitching ceremony at the University of Arizona’s Centennial Hall.
There were two red patches made from two retired flags donated by the Northwest Fire District Offices in Tucson. The patches were made by cutting out most of the red stripes from each of the donated flag The first patch is 18 inches high by 30 inches long and is positioned right next to the blue field on the eleventh stripe (red) from the bottom. The second patch is 18 inches high by 18 inches wide and is located at the right edge of the eleventh stripe (red) from the bottom. Four of the eleven flags originally sewn on the National 9/11 Flag in Greensburg in 2008 had been removed to make room for the patches.
The patches were sewn by 395 people during the ceremony including members of Representative Gabby Gifford’s office as well as first responders and others who were at the site of the shooting six months earlier. The stitching ceremony had two stitching stations, one on the right edge and one in the center of the flag to accommodate the patch locations. The remains of the two flags used in making the patch were retuned to the donors.
Members of the Flag Tour Team participating in the ceremony included Jeff Parness, Carolyn Deters, Wendy Hauser and Veronica Christensen and FDNY firefighters Jimmy Sands, Kevin Adkinson and Bill Ingram.
The location of the two Arizona patches are outlined on the picture below.