Pepperdine marks 9/11 with annual 'Waves of Flags' display

MALIBU, Calif. (KABC) -- As many reflect on the 24th anniversary of 9/11, one of the most moving displays in Southern California is Pepperdine University's "Waves of Flags."

Every year, the school honors the lives of those lost in the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Nearly 3,000 flags are placed at Alumni Park along Pacific Coast Highway and Malibu Canyon Road - one for each victim, including a national flag for each foreign country that lost a citizen in the attack.

More than 300 volunteers raised flags over the weekend. The tradition began in 2008 and hopes to educate young students who weren't alive during the attacks.

"When we put up these flags, these feelings come back and they continue to deepen," said Pepperdine Senior Vice Chancellor Hung Le. "Especially when I walk through this display, and I pause and realize that each flag is one life, a life that was lost. An empty seat at a table, a family that continues to hurt, a community that continues to remember, a nation that continues to heal, and a world that's been transformed."

John Bossler was at the South Tower during the attacks and spoke during Thursday's memorial event. He said it's something that will live in his memory forever.

"There was a lot of commotion," he recalled. "As we walked out, there was a lot of glass and debris falling."

"We saw things you're never going to forget," he added.

The keynote speaker was actor Dennis Quaid, a passionate supporter of veterans and first responders. He recently portrayed President Ronald Reagan in the 2024 biopic "Reagan."

"Those men and women who are running in when everybody else is running out ... they're America's finest and America's bravest," he said. "They carried the torch that must be kept burning by each new generation."

Thursday's event concluded with a flyover featuring four World War II vintage planes.

You can visit the flag display through September 26.