suzanne firstenberg is the artist behind america, each flag representing a life lost to covid-19. when i bought flags in june, i bought 630,000. i thought never would we use that many. i reordered twice. reporter: visitors come by not just to observe but participate, volunteers write dedications for loved ones submitted online. one flag, there was a 99-year-old who died, and the flag reads, he refused a ventilator. he asked that it be used for someone younger. reporter: when the exhibit opened september 17, there were 670,032 deaths. since then, thousands more has died. each day she increases the number to reflect that. i check the numbers every day because it s important we honor
participate. writing dedications for loved ones submitted online. one flag, it was a 99-year-old who died. and the flag reads, he refused a ventilator. he asked that it be used for someone younger. reporter: when the exhibit opened september 17th, there were 670,032 deaths. since then, thousands more have died. each day, she s increased the number to reflect that. i check the numbers every day. because it s important that we honor those people whom we just lost the day before. reporter: it s a lot of people. an incredible amount of people. reporter: this weekend, that number hit an unthinkable milestone. 700,000 american lives lost to covid-19. there are a lot of flags that say, if only you would have listened. or i wish you had gotten vaccinated. reporter: look at this one here. dear mom, you were a woman of
it goes down to the world war ii memorial now. to the world war ii memorial. reporter: suzanne firstenberg is the artist, a temporary exhibition on the national mall. each flag represents an american life lost to covid-19. when i bought flags in june, i bought 630,000. i thought never would we use that many. i ve reordered twice. reporter: visitors come by not just to observe, but to participate. volunteers write dedications for loved ones submitted online. one flag it was a 99-year-old who died. and the flag reads, he refused a ventilator. he asked that it be used for someone younger. reporter: when the exhibit opened september 17th, there were 670,032 deaths. since then, thousands more have died. each day, she s increased the number to reflect that. so i check the number every
stunning public art installation from maryland that blankets 20 acres of grassy land across from the washington monument with small white flags. each one in the staggering display representing a life lost to covid-19. no matter where you stand, no matter how hard you try, you can t see them all. many of the flags are blank, but some of them bear messages from the loved ones of the dead. heartbreaking missives that remind you there s a person behind that flag, behind the grim parade of death fluttering all around you. when i first visited the memorial on september 17th, the first day of the exhibition, there were 670,032 flags. when i walked by there thursday morning, 17 days later, the tally of the dead had increased by 18,213. later that day, the number ticked above 690,000.