Ben Garbacz/Daily Mining Gazette Flags were placed on the Michigan Tech campus lawn outside of the Walker building by member of Young Americans for Freedom in the early hours Thursday morning. Each flag represented the 2,977 lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001 from terror attacks.

HOUGHTON — 24 years ago the world changed forever with attacks committed upon U.S. citizens in New York City, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania. A total of 2,977 lives were lost from two hijacked airplanes striking the World Trade Center and another striking the Pentagon. A fourth aircraft, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed into an open field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, killing all passengers, crew members, and terrorists on board.

Every Sept. 11 citizens dedicate memorials to remember the victims of, and those who were not even born prior to those tragic events have taken up the responsibility to never forget. Once such group is Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) at Michigan Technological University.

Members of YAF got to work at 4 a.m. Thursday to place 2,977 American flags on Walker Lawn, one for each life lost in the attacks on 9-11, 2001. The collection of flags were placed in an orderly fashion and out of the way to allow students to walk past as they proceeded to and from classes.

“In terms of the amount of Americans who died, this was one of the greatest tragedies in decades,” YAF Michigan Tech President Donald Chapman said. “We had almost 3000 people die. Many of us on the younger side, especially at this campus, have grown up in a post 9-11 world, and that’s had a whole plethora of policy influences. But also it must have been so different for the people that grew up and watched that on television, that knew people that were in the buildings, or that had been working in those in those towers, and a lot of people now have forgotten that, especially younger ones.”

Chapman said it is important to continue the memorial as years pass to pay tribute to the lives lost and to keep in mind the influence it has brought on all Americans, such as policy changes in the past 20 years, especially in foreign affairs.

“It’s not something we want to forget and we want to keep promoting that we remember these Americans. We do care about them, and we love our country,” he said.

Some of the lives Chapman brought attention to were the first responders who gave their lives rescuing people trapped within the buildings.

“We had these great American patriots going into the buildings that were almost certain to… it was not a good situation,” he said. “And still, we had all these great servicemen going in there trying to help people, and even just ordinary citizens were going onto the scene to help people. So although it is a great national tragedy, I think it also points to how us as Americans can really come together and unite after such a tragic moment.”

The flags were removed in the evening to conclude the memorial.