“Many thanks again to Elora, Stacy and many others at CFF for all of your help!!  Our team met last night for a wrap up celebration and overwhelming consensus was this was a very patriotic and heart warming event that exceeded our entire club’s expectations.  “Honoring Heroes in Fort Bend County” truly was the perfect theme for our inaugural Field of Honor.  We are already thinking about a similar, but even larger, three-day event next year around Veterans Day.  Clearly, in addition to great leadership, we were blessed with many local sponsors and hard working volunteers but we could not have pulled off an event like this without the help, support and experience from CFF.”

Bruce Smith – Exchange Club of Sugar Land, TX

“I hope everyone at Colonial Flag Foundation knows what an event like this means to a community. It is something everyone can come together, regardless of views, to honor the men and women who have made sacrifices for our country. Our Exchange Club is blessed to be a part of such a tribute. We cannot thank y’all enough.”
Desha Hearn – Hermitage, TN

“I think doing this Field of Honor® concept is amazing and a great way to get people to be thankful,” he said. “I think that as Americans we sometimes lose sight of how we got here – whether we agree or disagree with the choices our country has made – because at the end of the day we need to always celebrate and honor those who have come before us and will continue to serve after us.”
Marine Corps veteran Ben Briggs. (The Orange County Register May 2016) (CA San Juan Capistrano 16)

“The Field of Honor® is an incredible visual display of American flags.”
Wayne Eggleston. (The Orange County Register May 2016) (CA San Juan Capistrano 16)

Wilson County Sheriff’s Lt. James Lanier saluted the flags each time he passed the Field of Honor. “I passed by it about 25 times,” he said. He and his wife, Rie, aim to install the flag in their front yard. “I wish I could get all these in my backyard and keep them there forever.”
(The Tennessean May 2016) (TN Mt. Juliet 16)

“Thank you so much for the tremendous service you provide.  Having worked with you on several occasions the past four years, I am very thankful for everything you do to make my events easy to manage.  Additionally, the theme of patriotism, honor, and respect makes the work to organize a Healing Field® very rewarding.”
(Rudy Keller email to John Hartvigsen)

“This display really gives you the chills it is so spectacular,” said Jim Ondrus, a board member of the [Jacksonville] Rotary Club.

“It’s incredible…to walk through the field around the flags and see the tags for fallen troops, (and occasional) impromptu memorials by the flags. The setting of this — the river, the hill — it’s pretty breathtaking,”
[Deborah] Rickert said.

“It really does show you that our country is behind our military,” Debbie Ritter said. “This is a special place to us and to have the Healing Field® here is fantastic.”

“Honoring someone with a flag is probably the highest honor you can bestow on anyone.”
Josh Collins, Fayetteville Ohio

“Each flag at the Field of Honor® has a story.”
Maggie O’Mara, Eagle Idaho

“I heartily endorse the concept of the Healing Field® and am proud to say I am a supporter.  It is all about patriotism, our flag, healing without forgetting, love of county, support of our military and that is as American as apple pie.”
Former U.S. Senator E.J. “Jake” Garn First U.S. Senator in Space

“What a great way to put things into perspective!” Anonymous

“The flags of the Healing Field® are a fitting tribute to the loves lost on that fateful day and to the determined spirit of those who survived.”
Former President George W. Bush.

“Thank you for giving us a place to come and feel closer to the one’s lost on 9-11-01. A place to pray, remember & reflect.  Pray for peace.”
The Coleman Family

“Wonderful.  The visual is so much more expressive, so much more than words ever convey.” Unknown

“Thank you for your patriotism and making this [Field of Honor®] a tradition for us.  It’s a beautiful sight to see.” Sutherland Family

“This field is an awesome, beautiful site.”Esther Peters

“Our seven year old granddaughter hugged one of the flag poles when we explained they each stood for a mom, dad, brother, sister of someone.”Anonymous

“I’m only 14 and never realized until now how many people really died.  I’m very thankful for what I have learned from this [flag display]. Thanks.”Anonymous

“It literally makes the hair stand on the back of my neck. It is pretty cool, when you get 1,000 flags whipping in the wind…There were guys who had been members of the Exchange Club for 30 years that came up to me that first year we did it and said this is the coolest thing we’ve ever done”
Flags of Honor® Chairman Art Awerkamp. (Herald Whig IL)

“Wow, what a beautiful memorial to some of America’s truest patriots. Thank you.” Anonymous

“Thank you for helping my family to visualize the impact of all the deaths.”Anonymous

“It is such a wonderful, wonderful community event,” said former state Rep. John Hood. “Last year so many people had no idea what the concept was, but once they saw it, they were amazed.”
(Healing Field®) (dnj.com Rutherford County’s First News Source)

“This is one of the best things, I think, that has ever happened to Murfreesboro,” said Mary Hirlston, whose grandson James Hirlston was killed in Iraq in 2006.
(Healing Field®) (dnj.com Rutherford County’s First News Source)

“I tear up just from the patriotism that we need to show and this is something that we can all come together [on]…This is so important for America. Veterans have given the ultimate sacrifice, a lot of them have and this is just a wonderful tribute to current and former veterans,”
Desha Hearn (Field of Honor®) (WKRN.COM)

Rhoades, who serves on Greater Huntington’s Parks and Recreation Board, came to the Healing Field® Sunday to reminisce about his wife, Brenda, who passed 14 years ago: “Each one of those flags stand for some body’s life. Somebody lost a loved one there also,” Rhoades explained, “The Healing Field®, it just gives you some place to go and remember and heal from the past.” 
(WSAZ 3 News Channel)

“I tell you what, it’s very emotional,” said Hawkins.  Phil Hawkins works for the VA now, taking care of our veterans.
(Eagle Field of Honor®) (KTVB.COM)

“The Field of Honor® is an opportunity to say thank you to anyone who has ever served. The ones who are currently serving, the ones who have served in the past,”Kathy Coburn, Chairman, Eagle Field of Honor®. (KTVB.COM)

“They became a support and healing experience.”(Field of Honor®) (Trenton Patch)

“Flags were used to commemorate those who died in the 9/11 attacks,” said Ira Neubauer of the Exchange Club, describing the history of the events.

“The display is so impressive, sobering and emotional,” Dammeyer said. “It really makes us think of all the men and women who suffered and lost their lives for us. It’s just a wonderful display.” A veteran, serving in the U.S. Air Force from 1958-1962, Ned Dammeyer said for being the third Field of Honor® display he has seen so far in his life, he could not help let the sight before him touch him on a personal level.
(Wapakoneta Daily News)

For the purpose of protection and privacy of military units, individuals, and families, certain information has been removed from the below email. The soldier who wrote this email had visited a “Healing Field®” display (in the United States) provided by Colonial Flag Foundation.

Email from a soldier:
“I had to write and say thank you for all you have done for me. I am a soldier in the Army Reserve, currently serving in Iraq with the (Military Unit) out of (City, State).

In September, I had the luck of the draw to be able to come home for a little R&R. I left Iraq on September 11th, flew into Kuwait, and was finally on my way home September 12th.

By the time I arrived I was suffering sever jet-lag and was ready to start a new day. I was excited and nervous to see my family for the first time after 6 months of combat; I wasn’t sure how they were going to respond. I wasn’t sure how I was going to respond. When I saw them waiting at the bottom of the stairs my heart filled with joy and my eyes with tears. It was an overwhelming and emotional reunion. While I walked through the airport, still overwhelmed by the hugs and kisses of my family, I started to ask myself loads of questions.

Have people forgotten about us? What does the media say about the troops in Iraq? Do people know there is still a war being fought and soldiers are still falling? I was really afraid of what the reality may have been concerning this situation. When we left the airport my mother told me she had something she wanted to show me. She told me there was a field (Healing Field®) put up of flags to remember those who died during 9/11. I thought it was going to be cool to see;

I had no idea.

When we pulled into the parking lot, west of the flags, my eyes were as round as quarters. It was amazing! I was purely shocked at the number of flags that had been placed in remembrance of those who lost their lives. It was a beautiful sight.

We started to walk through them, just letting the breeze blow the flag so it ever so lightly touches your skin as you pass. This was an experience I was never going to forget. While we were out walking through the flags we were approached by some kind young boys, part of a local scout troop. They were nice enough to help us out and tell us the story behind the field and any other interesting facts about it. They spoke of a field on the north side set up special for fallen troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11. I asked if the names of these soldiers were posted on the flags. They told me they were, so I asked them to help me find a special individual. We spent an hour reading the names of every flag until we found my dear friend, (name of a soldier).

When they found his name tears rolled down my cheek and I knew we had not been forgotten and neither had he. (Name) was a close friend of mine, long before the war even started. We were both deployed to Iraq in separate units. (Name) was my special someone. He was killed (date) when his ambulance was hit by an RPG.

“It’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen,” Jeri Rumsis, who serves on the organizing committee, said.
(Field of Honor®) (Wicked Local Mansfield)

Lt. Gen. Ronald Sams also gave an address, describing the importance of the flag, “The flag is what unites the United States.”
(Field of Honor®) (Trenton Patch)

“A beautiful memorial.  Please keep doing it.”Janet Hammond