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Flag display symbolizes NATO unity
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Bob Perrich holds Hannah Beresford, 3, his young neighbor, in front of the flags of the 19 original members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which he has hung on his Greeley home every year since Sept. 11, 2001.
Erin Hooley / ehooley@greeleytribune.com
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Bill Jackson, (Bio) bjackson@greeleytribune.com
September 11, 2006
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Bob Perrich was pushing a wheelbarrow down a Greeley street near his home the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.
Like many other people, it took Perrich a little time to figure out what he could do in response to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a plane over Pennsylvania.
His answer was to honor the 19 original members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization by flying the flags of those member nations at his west Greeley home -- a practice he started in 2002 and has continued since then.
"People don't realize it, but NATO was the first organization who declared that the attack on the United States was an attack on all 19 members," Perrich said.
On Sept. 12, 2001, less than 24 hours after the terrorist attacks, NATO declared the attacks to be against all the NATO member countries within certain terms of the treaty. That landmark decision was followed by practical measures aimed at assisting the United States in relation to its campaign against terrorism.
Perrich spent 21 years in the Army -- 18 of those on flight status -- and was a test pilot for the Army's UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. He retired from the Army about 12 years ago.
He keeps the flags flying throughout the week of that fateful day five years ago.
"This is my way of educating people," Perrich said. "It's my opinion, but I believe that NATO will be the United Nations of the next century."
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