9/11 ‘Waves of Flags’ in Malibu: A symbolic vision and a spiritual vow
Usa today news
Overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the annual Waves of Flags display rose up on Saturday at Pepperdine University in Malibu. The eye-catching display is in remembrance of lives lost in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Volunteers raised 2,977 flags, including one national flag representing each foreign country that lost citizens on that day. The flags represent the victims in which airplane hijackers destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, crashed a plane into the Pentagon, and crashed a plane in rural Pennsylvania after passengers took a stand against the hijackers.
Civil Air Patrol cadets Simone Kearsley, left, and Chloe Patrick place flags at Pepperdine University’s Alumni Park in Malibu on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, for the annual Waves of Flags display honoring those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.(Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)
Pepperdine baseball player Luke Casarez places flags at Pepperdine University’s Alumni Park in Malibu on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, as part of the annual Waves of Flags display honoring those killed on Sept. 11, 2001.(Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)
Fred Twitchell places a flag at Pepperdine University’s Alumni Park in Malibu on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, for the annual Waves of Flags display honoring those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Nearly 3,000 flags are placed, including those representing countries that lost citizens.(Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)
Emika Corte-Real walks among nearly 3,000 flags at Pepperdine University’s Alumni Park in Malibu on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, during the annual Waves of Flags display honoring those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. (Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)
Civil Air Patrol cadet Simone Kearsley helps place flags at Pepperdine University’s Alumni Park in Malibu on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, as part of the annual Waves of Flags display honoring those killed on Sept. 11, 2001.(Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)
Volunteers gather to place flags at Pepperdine University’s Alumni Park in Malibu on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, as part of the annual Waves of Flags display honoring those killed on Sept. 11, 2001.(Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)
Brandon Reed helps place flags at Pepperdine University’s Alumni Park in Malibu on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, as part of the annual Waves of Flags display honoring those killed on Sept. 11, 2001.(Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)
Volunteers gather to place nearly 3,000 flags at Pepperdine University’s Alumni Park in Malibu on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, for the annual Waves of Flags display honoring those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.(Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)
Nick Ignatczyk helps place flags at Pepperdine University’s Alumni Park in Malibu on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, as part of the annual Waves of Flags display honoring those killed on Sept. 11, 2001.(Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)
Kim Eveling places flags at Pepperdine University’s Alumni Park in Malibu on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, for the annual Waves of Flags display honoring those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Nearly 3,000 flags are placed, including those representing foreign countries that lost citizens.(Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)
Aubrey Eveling helps arrange flags at Pepperdine University’s Alumni Park in Malibu on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, for the annual Waves of Flags display honoring those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Nearly 3,000 flags are placed, including those representing foreign countries that lost citizens.(Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)
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Civil Air Patrol cadets Simone Kearsley, left, and Chloe Patrick place flags at Pepperdine University’s Alumni Park in Malibu on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, for the annual Waves of Flags display honoring those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.(Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)
The flag display at Pepperdine became a tradition in 2008 when university students were inspired by a similar 9/11 tribute elsewhere. The flags will be up until Sept. 18 at Alumni Park, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway (corner of Malibu Canyon Road), Malibu.
The university holds its 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony at 9 a.m. Sept. 11. Register in advance to attend the ceremony that is also held at Alumni Park. Details and to register to attend the ceremony, pepperdine.edu/waves-of-flags
In addition to the annual flag display and the 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony, the private Christian university has a permanent remembrance, the Thomas E. Burnett Jr. Heroes Garden.
Burnett (MBA ’95), a Graziadio Business School alumnus, was among those aboard the fourth hijacked jetliner, United Airlines Flight 93. Burnett and other passengers led a revolt against the hijackers but the plane crashed into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania (Flight 93 National Memorial Pennsylvania: nps.gov/flni/index.htm). Read about the Heroes Garden here: pepperdine.edu/about/heroesgarden .
This year marks a quarter-century since the hijacked plane attacks by al-Qaida militants that claimed nearly 3,000 lives in three locations and upended American foreign policy and national security. The unprecedented terror attacks sparked the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the creation of Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration. The National September 11 Memorial & Museum rose at the World Trade Center site in New York.
Memorials sites also were built at locations all over Southern California, many of them including pieces of the twisted debris left in the aftermath of the deadly attacks. Scores of communities will be hosting memorial events on Friday around the region.
