On Tuesday at 12:17 p.m., an American flag was raised near the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Commons, the same place where it was torn down by students almost 21 years ago.

The NIU Student Association sponsored Operation Huskie Salute, a 20-minute flag raising ceremony honoring 38 NIU students who were called to active duty during Operation Desert Storm. About 100 people came to show their support.

Lara Cipola, SA Public Relations adviser, said the SA gathered a list of names because of the number of students activated. The SA wanted to recognize and show its support for the troops, she said.

Bob Geaschel, SA senator and event co-coordinator, talked for a few minutes about the significance of the U.S. flag and read a poem titled “I Am Your Flag” because he said he feels people forget what the stars and stripes stand for.

“I am more than a piece of cloth,” he read. “I am the inspiration for which Americans gave their lives.”

Vietnam veteran Swede Ekstrom, a university police officer, assisted with the honors and spoke at the ceremony.

“Twenty-one years ago we were in the middle of the Vietnam War and Kent State,” he said. “One of the first acts of defiance was the tearing down of the American flag.

“Since then, this area has been neglected and in a state of despair. The flag has never been reflown,” Ekstrom said.

“The flag represents hope and I pray that it keeps flying,” he said.

VietNOW donated the flag to NIU which Ekstrom said was “ironic.”

After Ekstrom’s speech, four members of the ROTC raised the flag to the blare of one trumpet playing the national anthem. David McCabe, member of the Huskie Marching Band, was asked to volunteer his services.

After the ceremony, Ekstrom said he did not understand why it took NIU so long to replace the flag, but it was probably not on purpose.

“I got back from Vietnam in 1968 and I was disappointed when I came back to find the flag had been torn down,” he said. “I hope now we are successful in our peace efforts.”

On the three flagpoles outside the southwest corner of the Holmes Student Center, the Illinois flag and the U.S. flag will fly on a daily basis, leaving one empty flagpole.

At the end of the ceremony, Cipola said an NIU flag is being constructed now and will fly next to the U.S. flag in the fall.