PART 3-Flight 93 National Memorial

Just saying the words September 11 or 9/11 evokes such strong memories even after almost 18 years.  Like most Americans, I vividly remember where I was and what I was doing the exact moment the first plane flew into the Twin Towers. 

 

 

Two years ago we visited the Pentagon Memorial and then the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

 

 

With this visit to the Flight 93 Memorial in Somerset County, Pennsylvania we completed the triad of sites dedicated to the victims of the cowardly acts perpetrated on September 11, 2001.

United Flight 93, a Boeing 757, bound for San Francisco, California, from Newark, New Jersey is delayed 25 minutes before takeoff.

When over eastern Ohio, 46 minutes into the flight, hijackers in first class attack at 9:28 am, incapacitating Captain Jason Dahl and first officer, LeRoy W. Homer.

Hijackers turn Flight 93 southeast, headed for Washington, D.C., most likely the US Capitol.

The plane is seen flying erratically over southwestern Pennsylvania at just before 10 am.  At 10:03 it crashes upside-down into the Somerset County field.  All 33 passengers, seven crew members, and four hijackers are killed.

The memorial was made to honor the passengers and crew of Flight 93, who stopped the terrorists from reaching their target by fighting the hijackers. 

The glass and concrete visitor center was opened on September 10, 2015, situated on a hill overlooking the crash site and the white marble Wall of Names.

An observation platform at the visitor center and the white marble wall are both aligned beneath the path of Flight 93.

Just after the hijacking, several passengers and crew members made cell phone calls aboard the flight and learned about the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

As a result, the passengers and crew members decided to mount an assault and wrest control of the plane. 

The Memorial Plaza consists of a Visitor Shelter, a series of information panels that tell the story of Flight 93, and a walkway that borders the crash site and leads to the Wall of Names. 

 

 

 

Located near the Wall of Names is a boulder, marking the impact crater that was later filed in creating a grave for the victims of the crash.

Our final stop before departing the memorial was at the Tower of Voices, a monumental 93-foot-tall musical instrument.  The tower marks the gateway to and from the memorial.

  Forty chimes represent the voices of the 40 courageous passengers and crew members who took a vote to come together and fight terrorism on the morning of September 11, 2001.

Currently there are only a few chimes mounted.  We could not find any information on a completion date. 

We left the memorial with the same mixed feelings we had after visiting the 9/11 Memorials in NYC and at the Pentagon.  Feelings, of not only anger and sadness of the senseless event, but also pride of the bravery of my fellow Americans whose actions saved many other lives.