Nicholson, who then ran an auction house in Orange, Va., said his flag was given to him, along with other used construction items for disposal or sale, in 2002 by Pete Elliot, a construction supervisor for Facchina Construction Co. Inc., which was working at the Pentagon the day of the attack. Nicholson said Elliot wrote a letter of authenticity saying that the flag flew from a crane and survived the attack. The letter is also framed, and Nicholson has lent both the flag and the letter for public displays.
Nicholson, 44, said he intended never to sell it, until he was recently diagnosed with advanced kidney cancer and decided he had to provide for his family's future.
Debra Burlingame speaks as Tara Stackpole and Deena Burnett, right, listen at the GOP convention in August.
(Jacqueline Larma -- AP)
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Seven days into the auction, Facchina posted a letter on its Web site stating that it had neither a crane nor a flag flying from a crane at the Pentagon on Sept. 11. Company attorney Adrian L. Bastianelli said Facchina issued its statement to rectify any false impressions made in the letter of authenticity.
But Bastianelli said Facchina did bring equipment to the work site after the attacks. "We've had people [in the company] say that there was [a flag] attached to a crane brought in on Sept. 12. . . . That was a possibility."
After Nicholson opened the eBay auction, he said that Elliot retracted his statement about the flag's presence Sept. 11 and that he asked for the letter back, saying his company had reprimanded him for writing it on company letterhead. Yesterday, Elliot said the flag was not there on Sept. 11, and he would not comment on the letter.
Nicholson said Facchina has known about the flag since at least 2002, when he and the flag were featured on CNN. Yesterday, he accused the company of trying to save face, fearing the loss of millions of dollars in government construction contracts.
"As far as I'm concerned, the flag was there and they're just trying to save their butts," Nicholson said.
Victims' families say it will be impossible to authenticate claims to 9/11 memorabilia, opening the field to countless scams.
"After Sept. 11, most American stood up and said, 'What can I do to help or give?' " Burlingame said. "Here is a man who said the same thing when he [framed] the flag and made it available for schoolchildren. Now he's saying, 'What can I get?' "
Tim Sumner, whose brother-in-law, Lt. Joseph G. Leavey, was killed on Sept. 11, said the sale was "kind of like if during March 1945 you were selling the flag that was raised over Iwo Jima. We're still in this war. Maybe if it were 60 years later it would be different, but it feels like blood money."
Nicholson was unapologetic. "I'm dying of cancer," Nicholson said. "When anyone can walk in my shoes with what I've got, I don't care who they are -- they'd sell the flag."
The controversy "really killed my auction," Nicholson added. "It would have brought a lot more" money, part of which would have increased the contribution he plans to make to cancer research.
