Tempe Beach Park hosts 9/11 memorial with brilliant flag and candle display

TEMPE, Ariz. - In Tempe, the fallen were honored with each of the 2,977 names of those who died in the September 11, 2001 attack against the Twin Towers read out loud, and a flag planted in their memory. 

The memorial at Tempe Beach Park is a beautiful memorial. There were rows and rows of flags and candles placed beside each flag. 

The flags each represent an innocent life that was taken.

"2,977 flags fly here in this field," said Nck Bastian of the Exchange Club of Tempe.

"It represents someone's life. It represents somebody being taken before their time," said Moses Simms of Valor Veterans. "For me, regardless of how it happens or what happens for it to be taken, it shouldn't have been."

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It was one of America's darkest days, not forgotten 23 years later, and visitors at Tempe Town Lake remember where they were on that day.

"I was at home with my roommate and I was listening to Howard Stern on the radio and that's how I first heard about it and just kind of seeing the second plane hit," said one man named Devon.

Wanda Wright of Valor Veterans said the day for her was like a blur.

"We went into red and we had people on the roof with rifles," she said. "We were at battle stations and we were trying to figure out what's next."

They are here today paying their respects by walking with flags, laying down coins and reading bios on each flag pole.

Tempe Beach Park's Healing Field in honor of the fallen during the 9/11 terrorist attack against the World Trade Centers Twin Towers in 2001.

"I just think it's really important that we remember all of them no matter if they were in the military or not, if they were firefighters or not, that we remember all of them every time this day comes up and all the days in between," Wright said.

"It just changed everything for everybody," said Devon.

"Because we lost so many people that day and the military was on high alert, it's one of those things you never forget," Wright said.

The Exchange Club of Tempe has hosted the event for 21 years and each year it draws in more and more people.