Historic US flag that marked JFK assassination stolen
Posted by Jim on July 8, 2025
THE IRISH NEWS:
Northern Ireland
Historic US flag that marked JFK assassination stolen from Derry school
Flag that flew at half-mast following 1963 assassination had been displayed to mark US Independence Day
The flag last flew at the US Naval base on the day of JFK’s assassination in 1963.
The historic US flag that was stolen from Foyle College in Derry last weekend.
By Mark Robinson
July 08, 2025 at 2:32pm BST
A historic US flag flown at half-mast to mark the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 has been stolen from a Derry school located on the site of a former US naval base.
Foyle College, which originally occupied two sites on the Duncreggan Road and Northland Road, relocated to a £27m campus on the Limavady Road in 2018.
The new site was formerly home to a US Naval Communication Station between 1943 and 1977 – the oldest such base in Europe at the time of its closing.
It then became a British Army barracks.
A memorial to the former US station was unveiled in the grounds in 2019, complete with the base’s 50m-tall flagpole.
The original US flag was also gifted to the school at the time by the base’s alumni association.
It flew at half-mast on the site in 1963 when JFK was assassinated, before it was taken down that same day and retired.
The flag has since flown at the school twice a year – to mark the anniversary of JFK’s passing (November 22) and to coincide with US Independence Day on July 4.
Last week’s ceremony was attended by Frank Ekstrom, who was stationed at the former US base.
However, the flag was removed from the grounds of the school over the weekend.
Speaking to The Irish News, the schol’s head of history, Melanie Dougherty, said the flag was “historically significant” to both the school and the city of Derry.
“It’s not just some random Star-Spangled Banner that was bought in 2019,” Ms Dougherty said.
“It actually was the flag that properly flew on the base.
“That Naval communications base, it was the place that all the really important Cold War messages went though, such as during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
“We really hope that someone speaks out and tells us where it is and realises the historical significance of it so that we can keep it for the generations to come.”
A PSNI spokesperson said they received a report that the flag was stolen from the Limavady Road school grounds in the early hours of Sunday, July 6.
“This is reported to have occurred at 4am, involving two individuals, both believed to be male,” they added, urging those with information to contact them on 101.