--- description: A video has gone viral showing a bald eagle land atop a firetruck partaking in a ceremony to commemorate the 9/11 terrorist attacks title: Bald Eagle Lands On Fire Truck During 9/11 Ceremony image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37a0be18a529edf0/698939ff4ee262941d312d3e/gettyimages-1010939954.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Minnesota](/tag/minnesota/) ## Minnesota Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 'Doesn't Get Much More Symbolic Than That.' Bald Eagle Lands on Fire Truck During 9/11 Ceremony by [Casey Quackenbush](/author/casey-quackenbush/) ## Casey Quackenbush Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 12, 2018 3:45 AM CUT  An American bald eagle flies over Mill Pond in Centerport, New York on July 29, 2018. An American bald eagle flies over Mill Pond in Centerport, New York on July 29, 2018.Bruce Bennett—Getty Images by [Casey Quackenbush](/author/casey-quackenbush/) ## Casey Quackenbush Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 12, 2018 3:45 AM CUT A moment of striking serendipity was captured in a now [viral video](https://www.facebook.com/Andoverfiremn/ "undefined") Tuesday when a bald eagle landed atop a Minnesota fire truck that was part of a ceremony commemorating the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The video shows the eagle perched at the end of a fire truck aerial that was being used to suspend an American flag along a highway in the northern Minneapolis suburb of Coon Rapids. “Isn’t that unbelievable?” said Andover Fire Chief Jerry Streich, who caught the video footage and shared it on the Andover fire department’s [Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/Andoverfiremn/ "undefined"). “Phenomenal.” The video has been viewed more than two million times. “There’s no better symbol to represent America today than a flag but then for an eagle to land on a fire truck holding a flag, I mean, it doesn’t get much more symbolic than that,” [said](https://www.kare11.com/article/news/eagle-lands-on-911-flag-display-in-mn/89-593001396 "undefined") Streich told Minnesota-based KARE-TV. “I had to look at it a few times,” he said. “And then I thought, I need to videotape this!” Across the country, Americans held somber ceremonies to mark the [17th anniversary](http://time.com/5392361/9-11-17th-anniversary-memorial/ "undefined") of the 9/11 attacks, where four hijacked planes were used to kill nearly 3,000 people, the deadliest terror attack on American soil. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5393466/9-11-bald-eagle-fire-truck/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5393466/9-11-bald-eagle-fire-truck/"},"headline":"'Doesn't Get Much More Symbolic Than That.' Bald Eagle Lands on Fire Truck During 9/11 Ceremony","datePublished":"2018-09-12T03:45:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T21:24:39.878Z","description":"Video shows the eagle perched atop the fire truck aerial before flying away","url":"https://time.com/5393466/9-11-bald-eagle-fire-truck/","keywords":["Minnesota","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37a0be18a529edf0/698939ff4ee262941d312d3e/gettyimages-1010939954.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Casey Quackenbush","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/casey-quackenbush/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37a0be18a529edf0/698939ff4ee262941d312d3e/gettyimages-1010939954.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Eagles on Long Island","caption":"Eagles on Long Island","creditText":"Bruce Bennett—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/minnesota/","name":"Minnesota"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5393466/9-11-bald-eagle-fire-truck/","name":"'Doesn't Get Much More Symbolic Than That.' Bald Eagle Lands on Fire Truck During 9/11 Ceremony"}}]}] ```