Dec 4, 2007 1:07 pm US/Eastern
State: Tribute Banners On Overpasses Are A Danger
Chances are you've probably seen banners and flags hanging from highway overpasses across Massachusetts.
They are signs of tribute hung there by friends, family and some by perfect strangers, all to remember those brave men and women serving in the U.S. military that have died, or are fighting overseas.
However the state now says all of those tributes have to come down because they're dangerous.
Mass Highway is worried that the flags and banners will come undone and fall onto the traffic below, possibly causing an accident. So they've banned any of these types of tributes and say that by Friday all must be removed. A decision loved ones say is a sign of disrespect.
Tuesday in Methuen some of those people took matters into their own hands. Rather than waiting for someone from Mass Highway to take displays down from on an overpass over route 213, they decided to take down the displays themselves.
Among those people was Andy Jimenez, who son Alex, was kidnapped in an ambush in Iraq this past May. Specialist Jimenez has been missing ever since. Right afterwards flags and banners went up on that overpass and many others like it to remember Alex.
Andy Jimenez says the displays give him hope and he considers them a "Welcome Home" for troops, because he still has hope his son will return. "I feel not alone. Because I see all the people together in my trouble", Jimenez said.
Jim Wareing has organized 11 of these displays across the state, including the one in Methuen; but on Tuesday he was busy helping take one down. "When they're put up there, they're put up there for the families. You know to show that you know to show that just because they were killed in action, we're not going to forget them. We want to honor them" said Wareing.
After taking down a P.O.W. (Prisoner of War) flag from that overpass in Methuen, Jim presented it to Mr. Jimenez as a tribute to Alex.
Mass Highway has produced other, more general signs that read "Welcome Home Troops… Thanks For Your Service." They've offered to put those signs up at highway rest stops as a safer alternative.
This isn't the first time that the state has decided to remove the displays.
In October of 2006 Mass Highway announced a similar ban. However in the face of mounting public criticism they relented and said that "Displays safely on the inside of overpass fencing would not be touched."
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