05-9-2013

Co-directed by Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein, CNN Films' "The Flag" examines what happened to the flag raised on the site of the World Trade Center by three firemen, immortalized in one of the most iconic photographs of that day.

Co-directed by Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein, CNN Films' "The Flag" examines what happened to the flag raised on the site of the World Trade Center by three firemen, immortalized in one of the most iconic photographs of that day.

(CNN) -- For the warrior or the would-be rescuer -- the heroes -- there is no time to appreciate what one click of a camera shutter means to a suffering nation.

(CNN) -- For the warrior or the would-be rescuer -- the heroes -- there is no time to appreciate what one click of a camera shutter means to a suffering nation.

11, 2001, three New York City firefighters joined those who rushed to the World Trade Center to search for survivors who would never be found.

A monochromatic wall of gray debris soared in the background.

A monochromatic wall of gray debris soared in the background.

A monochromatic wall of gray debris soared in the background.

Navy liaison to New York, at the time.

The photographs of the flag-raisings at Iwo Jima and ground zero quickly became icons, moments in time that galvanized Americans who found new solidarity and unity.

And while the whereabouts of the Iwo Jima flag are known (it's at the National Museum of the Marine Corps), the fate of the World Trade Center site 3-foot-by-5-foot flag became a mystery.

And while the whereabouts of the Iwo Jima flag are known (it's at the National Museum of the Marine Corps), the fate of the World Trade Center site 3-foot-by-5-foot flag became a mystery.

And while the whereabouts of the Iwo Jima flag are known (it's at the National Museum of the Marine Corps), the fate of the World Trade Center site 3-foot-by-5-foot flag became a mystery.

Old Glory: 'What makes us American'

It's a story replete with mystery.

The flag that subsequently flew over Yankee Stadium as a patriotic rebuke to terrorism, and fluttered over the USS Roosevelt as the aircraft carrier sent missions over Afghanistan, was represented as the same flag that was raised.

The flag that subsequently flew over Yankee Stadium as a patriotic rebuke to terrorism, and fluttered over the USS Roosevelt as the aircraft carrier sent missions over Afghanistan, was represented as the same flag that was raised.

The flag that subsequently flew over Yankee Stadium as a patriotic rebuke to terrorism, and fluttered over the USS Roosevelt as the aircraft carrier sent missions over Afghanistan, was represented as the same flag that was raised.

The story of the missing flag includes a larger, more philosophical question: Is it the actual flag that is most important -- or the ideals it represents?

The film is partly forensic, with an expert comparing photos of the original flag and others that appear to be larger.

"We're not a country based on religion or ethnicity, or even cultural heritage" Burns told the filmmakers.

"We're a country based on ideas and a philosophy.

When asked whether it mattered whether the flag was recovered, a visitor to the 9/11 memorial said, "It would matter.

"If you had the actual flag ... the cynic in me (would say), people want it.

The Iraqi insurgency was growing, and Tucker, an American, wanted to leave in spring 2004 for his home, then in Germany.

He stayed at a U.S. facility at the airport and awoke to find a small folded American flag under his pillow, a customary gift made by some group.

"I was so overwhelmed with emotion.