Haddad: Thank you, Healing Field volunteers and Town of Prescott Valley
Student Essay Contest deadline is Oct. 1

To all of the volunteers and Town of Prescott Valley staff and leadership involved in bringing us the Healing Field, I thank you. (Richard Haddad/Courier)

To all of the volunteers and Town of Prescott Valley staff and leadership involved in bringing us the Healing Field, I thank you. (Richard Haddad/Courier)

This week, my wife and I took two of our grandchildren and one of our sons to see the Healing Field in Prescott Valley. They had never visited the field, and now I hope they will never forget what they saw and felt.

To all of the volunteers and Town of Prescott Valley staff and leadership involved in bringing us the Healing Field, I thank you.

Thank you for the opportunity to help us remember what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, and not just to remember the lives lost, but also to remember the unity and resolve we all felt as a nation as we worked together to rise up from the dust, despair and destruction caused by hate.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide a visual, reverent teaching moment for my grandchildren.

While they were not yet born, they felt the magnitude of that day as they walked among the rows and rows of red, white and blue flags. Their hearts were touched as they read the names of real people, and even eight children like themselves, who lost their lives that day because of hate and intolerance.

Thank you for the opportunities you have given my wife and me the past eight years to tell our children about the the 55 pairs of military boots, the 72 pairs of law enforcement boots, and the 343 pairs of firefighter boots that are placed at the base of so many of those flags. What a powerful way to illustrate for them the sacrifice heroes sometimes make to save or protect others. Thank you also for the 19 pairs of hotshot boots and special flags set apart on the field to remember our own local heroes.

If anyone reading this column has not experienced the Healing Field, please take a moment to pause from the chaos and clamor of an election year, the stresses of the pandemic and the daily routine we so easily slip into as we strive to get through it all, and come remember. Come share. Come teach.

The Prescott Valley Healing Field of Northern Arizona has 2,977 United State Flags on display, one for each person who died on 9/11 plus 19 Granite Mountain Hotshot Flags representing the firefighters who lost their lives on June 30, 2013, as they were fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire. Every flag tells a story.

The field is on display at the Prescott Valley Town Center, 7501 Civic Circle, now through Friday, Sept. 11. You can learn more at www.healingfieldpv.com.

STUDENT ESSAY CONTEST

The organizers of the Prescott Valley Healing Field of Northern Arizona are holding a Student Essay Contest. The contest is an educational opportunity for students to learn about 9/11 and the people — civilians, policemen, and firefighters — for whom the flags fly. The contest is a way to encourage the children in our community to value American Patriotism, and the sacrifice of so many who have fought to keep us free.

Students in grades 4 through 12 are invited to write a 500-word essay describing how they feel when visiting the Healing Field, or what this field means to them. The deadline for entering is Oct. 1. With each essay, please include contact information, including school/teacher, email and phone number. All essays should be submitted via email to, HealingFieldPV@gmail.com. Winners will be presented awards and all participants will be recognized at a Prescott Valley Town Council meeting in November. For more information fill out the form online at healingfieldpv.com/student-essay-contest or contact Sandy Shaffer at 928-899-3111 or Darlene Pack­ard at 928-848-0626.

See related photo gallery


Donate Report a Typo Contact
Most Read