Until five military flags outside ML's headquarters in the World Financial Center were taken down this spring, SVP Mike Cowan, FVP Frank Murphy and VP Brian Caslin had no idea how much they, and other New York employees, would miss them.

The flags — representing the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey — had been hoisted on 27 September in an informal but poignant military ceremony following the terrorist attacks of 11 September. But by March, the flags — on a 10th-floor setback above the entrance of the South Tower — had to be removed in order to repair the building, which was heavily damaged in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers.

The flags were sorely missed. They were so missed, in fact, that someone came up with an idea: Why not replicate the display permanently?

"We thought it would be nice, in a small way, for us to remember and to honor the people we lost," Cowan said. "It would be very fitting for ML to do this, and pay tribute to those who touched our lives."

And so, on 9 September, a memorial re-creating the display — and a memorial plaque to the three ML colleagues killed in the attack —was formally dedicated in a private ceremony.

After the attack a year ago, Cowan, head of Corporate Services, Caslin, senior building manager for Headquarters Facilities Management, and Murphy, head of Headquarters Facilities Management, said seeing the flags every day as they came to work to oversee repair of the World Financial Center helped boost their spirit and patriotism.

Hundreds of workers helping to restore the buildings also found strength in the flags, as well in a two-story-tall American flag unfurled from the same ledge. The flags gave the ML building a distinctive and prominent presence in the newly altered New York City skyline.

"It was so touching that these armed servicemen came and put up these flags as a sign of patriotism and support at a time when we needed it most — when lower Manhattan was in a state of total chaos," Murphy said.

The new display will serve as a similar source of inspiration. It includes nine flags, representing the six original flags; those of the New York City police and fire departments; and, in the center, placed higher than the others, the American flag. The entire display will be lit at night.

Two commemorative plaques, one at the base of the American flag and the other in the North Tower, will memorialize the victims of 11 September.

"We consider the roof where the flags will be placed to be hallowed ground," Murphy said.