I-465 flag bearer says USA is stronger after 9/11 ordeal - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Indiana is remembering the 9/11 terrorist attacks Tuesday with tributes that started early in the morning.

If you drove to work today, you probably saw people waving flags from interstate overpasses.

For the past decade Jimmy Clark has waved an American flag on 56th Street above I-465 on the northwest side. He takes the day off from work to commemorate this day. Clark calls himself a "humble messenger."

"I was watching the news like everybody when the planes went into the towers, and we were all upset and irate and fearful and confused," said Clark.

"That day brings back a lot of haunting memories. It must seem like yesterday to those who lost relatives. The pain is still there and it's raw for a lot of people."

"From a mile away from the south and a mile away from the north, you can see this flag," he said, waving to drivers as they passed underneath the bridge, honking in approval.

"It reminds people of our greatness. I think our greatness is defined in the way we treat each other to kindness - in particular that day, the people who gave their lives to total strangers in most cases in those very last hours. That moves me. That bravery, and that courage and that love. Stories we'll never know," he said.

"There was a lot of fear and rage. We were an angry nation after that. A lot of innocent people. Sons and daughters and fathers and mothers. People didn't come home that day. It's a painful day to remember, but I think now, 11 years later, the atmosphere's a little more solemn. We've grown from the challenges that have come from a terrible thing. It strengthened this nation in a way that I don't think we could be knocked down so easily again."