The Avenue of the Flags

The Avenue of the Flags

Adds Union Jack

for British Hostages

Hillcrest Memorial Park in Hermitage, Pennsylvania, has a tribute to a part of our history that most people have forgotten or choose to forget - The Iran Hostage Crisis.

The Tribute comes in the largest known display of flags in the world - 444 American flags to mark each day the American Embassy hostages were held, and a Canadian flag to recognize the Canadian embassy's help in saving six hostages from captivity. Now, a Union Jack is being added to remember the British Sailors and Marines who are being held.

Tom Flynn, owner of the Hillcrest Memorial Park, felt that the Iran Hostage Crisis was too important to ever forget and determined he would find a way to remember.

With the help of unemployed steel workers in the area and flags donated by the families of veterans buried at Hillcrest, Flynn decided to erect an American flag for each day the hostages had been held. 444 flags fly to commemorate each of those days our citizens were held.

When the eight American servicemen were killed during an ill-fated rescue attempt in Iran, the citizens of Scranton joined forces to dedicate a permanent monument in memory of these brave men and placed it in the Avenue of Flags.

The hostages were released on January 20, 1981. Michael Matrinko, along with fiver other returning hostages, lit the eternal flame which still burns today in front of the monument dedicated to the 1980 rescue attempt.

Hillcrest is also home to a landmark known as the War on Terror Veterans Memorial. It consists of eight steel and glass panels. One panel lists the names of all US service members killed by acts of terror from 1975 through September 11, 2001. The other seven contain the names of all of the men and women killed fighting the war on terror. The names are updated each week.

Tom Flynn - thank you for this remarkable tribute to those lost to terrorism.

For more on the Iran Hostage Crisis, go here and here.