Oct 21, 2001

Army Rangers Leave Taliban Photos of U.S. Firefighters Raising Flag

The Associated Press

A photograph left behind by 100 U.S. Army Rangers and special forces operatives during a weekend raid in Afghanistan - showing three weary, dust-covered firefighters raising the American flag over the World Trade Center wreckage - appears to be one taken by a photographer for The Record of Hackensack, N.J., the day of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Pentagon has not confirmed the photo is the one taken by Tom Franklin, but the picture released by the military appears identical to one he took while wandering through the wreckage of the twin towers.

Franklin, 35, photographed the firefighters hoisting a flag plucked from a yacht onto a single flagpole anchored in the rubble about 20 feet off the ground. Using a long lens, he captured the moment from 100 feet away, unbeknownst to the three firefighters - Dan McWilliams, George Johnson and Billy Eisengrein.

The Rangers also left behind a message in the raid near the southern Afghan city of Kandahar - copies of the photo were superimposed with the words "Freedom Endures."

Franklin did not immediately return a call for comment Sunday.

AP-ES-10-21-01 2049EDT

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-- Anonymous, October 21, 2001