When Lee Messina and Greg Faughner started the Southern Regional Air Force Junior ROTC program some 30 years ago, there was no Operation Field of Flags in preparation for a Memorial Day service.

Then came Sept. 11, 2001.

“I remember us watching the TV in the classroom as the attacks happened,” Messina said, as he watched the cadets of NJ-931 finish placing the last batches of flags into the grass outside the high school’s 9/10 building along Route 9 on May 25. “It’s something that’s been burned into my mind forever.