BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) - The American Red Cross is getting ready for 9/11 Day by planting close to 3,000 flags on the front lawn of the Clement Mansion as a tribute to those lost in the tragedy 15 years ago. 
 
 Each flag placed by the Western New York Families of September 11th represents a victim of the attacks. 
 
 "For us the flags represent the lives lost on September 11, 2001, 15 years ago. This is a time to reflect and remember them," said Leigh Macadlo, a member of the Western New York Families of September 11th. 
 
 Macadlo lost her twin brother, Leonard Castrianno, in the terrorist attack. 
 
 "This year, the 15th anniversary of the tragic 9/11 event, the American Red Cross is humbled and honored to host the flag display assembled by the Western New York Families of September 11th and their volunteers," said American Red Cross Western New York Chapter Executive Director Chuck Marra. "It is a continued reminder to the Western New York community that 'we will never forget' this solemn anniversary." 
 
 The American Red Cross and 7 Eyewitness News are teaming up in support of 9/11 Day, offering a special blood drive to help honor those who lost their lives and the heroes who responded. The blood drive will be held at the Clement Mansion on Friday, September 9 from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. 
 
 "September 11th was one of the darkest days in American history," said Red Cross Donor Recruitment Manager for the Buffalo District Vicki Smith. "Donating blood and giving the gift of life is a profound way to honor the victims we lost and the heroes who rose up to service on 9/11." 
 
 9/11 Day has become an annual day of service to honor the victims and heroes of that tragic day. Since it was launched in 2002, the observance has become the largest annual day of charitable engagement in the U.S. and was designated as a National Day of Service and Remembrance by the U.S. Congress in 2009. 
 
 To Donate blood, download the American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800 RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) to make an appointment or for more information. ||||| Photo 
 
 The moment was captured in a photograph, an unforgettable image that was seared in the world’s collective memory as a symbol of resilience: three firefighters raising an American flag amid the ruins of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. 
 
 Soon after, the flag disappeared. New York City officials tried to track it down, to no avail. 
 
 Now the flag has been recovered, though the mystery has not been entirely solved. On Thursday, nearly 15 years after it first flew, the flag will again become a prominent part of Lower Manhattan when it goes on display at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. 
 
 The flag’s return required a transcontinental trip: It was recovered in Washington State. 
 
 On Sept. 11, 2001, three firefighters — Billy Eisengrein, George Johnson and Dan McWilliams — removed the flag and its pole from the Star of America, a yacht that had been moored at the North Cove marina on the Hudson River. Thomas E. Franklin, a photographer for The Record, a newspaper in northern New Jersey, captured the moment when it was raised at ground zero. 
 
 After flying at ground zero, the flag, or so it was believed at the time, was unfurled at Yankee Stadium and on naval ships in the Middle East before returning to City Hall in 2002. But it turned out the flag — which was signed by Gov. George E. Pataki and Mayors Rudolph W. Giuliani and Michael R. Bloomberg, among others — was not the right one. The yacht’s flag measured 3 feet by 5 feet; the autographed flag was 5 feet by 8 feet. 
 
 Photo 
 
 The flag’s whereabouts was not known until late 2014, after the mystery was featured on the first episode of “Brad Meltzer’s Lost History,” which was broadcast on H2, a spinoff of the History Channel. 
 
 “All we did was put up the modern-day version of the wanted poster,” said Mr. Meltzer, an author of thriller novels and children’s books as well as a writer for television. “We put that flag on TV.” 
 
 Advertisement Continue reading the main story 
 
 The episode, which uses a grainy video to show that the flag disappeared on the night of the terrorist attack, was broadcast on Oct. 31. Four days later, a man carrying a plastic bag walked into a fire station in Everett, Wash. He had seen the show and believed he had the flag.
– On Sept. 11, 2001, three firefighters removed a flag and its pole from a yacht that had been moored at a marina on the Hudson River and raised it at Ground Zero, and photojournalist Thomas E. Franklin captured the moment for the northern New Jersey paper The Record. It's become an indelible image; the woman who owned the flag (and yacht) calls it "the only symbol of hope that day," reports the New York Times. The flag was flown around the world and signed by the likes of George Pataki, Rudy Giuliani, and Michael Bloomberg, until it was discovered that it was not the real one. There was one dead giveaway: The autographed flag was 5 feet by 8 feet, while the one in the photograph was 3 feet by 5 feet. Then, in the fall of 2014, four days after the flag mystery was featured on the first episode of Brad Meltzer’s Lost History, a man who called himself Brian carried a flag in a plastic bag into a fire station in Everett, Wash., and told the firefighters he was a former Marine who'd been given the flag by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employee, who'd been given it by a 9/11 widow. There are several holes in his story, and no one's been able to find him since he dropped it off, but the flag has been tested and confirmed to be the original. Original owner Shirley B. Dreifus has donated it to the Sept. 11 museum, where it is set to go on display. Meanwhile, WKBW reports that people are planting nearly 3,000 flags (one for every victim) in Western New York. (Someone stole a historic 9/11 flag in 2014.)