Flight 93 National Memorial 18 years later

Overview

The Flight 93 National Memorial is a somber place only broken by a child running by or laughing because they don’t understand. The smiles of those that you pass are forced or with a tear in the eye but with a pride of both tragic realization and triumph over certain defeat.

As the memorial sits on a hilltop in a Somerset County which gets approximately 80 inches of snow a year. Check the web site for Alerts and Conditions. During the winter and for special events, roads can be closed or facilities closed. Otherwise the Memorial is Free and open daily with the exception of a few holidays.

Also, follow the signs not the GPS when you get close because they have a new entrance and I was sent to the old one by my GPS and it is permanently closed.

The Memorial includes three sites: the Tower of Voices, the museum, and the wall of name in front of the impact site.

The Tower of Voices is at the entrance to the park. It is possible to walk from the Tower of Voices down to the museum but it is best to drive down as it is about a mile or so down the road.

The museum is the second stop as it was set up along the flight pattern of Flight 93. The museum offers recording of phone calls between passengers and crew members to family, friends, and colleagues. It also offers a timeline of the 9/11 events and a overview of where the flight hit the ground.

The memorial wall has the names of all the passengers and crew. The actually site of the crash is a short area behind the wall. Only those who lost family are allowed to walk behind to where a rock is placed on the impact site.

I went on the 18th anniversary and therefore, a speech was give by the Vice President and parking included bag searches and shuttles van and buses. Before warned that during special events, it is important to arrive at least an hour before to get to the museum or wall as you have to be shuttle down the hill.

The events included speeches, a wreath laying, a band, and a reading of the names of each person with chimes after each name. The secret service was effective at getting people through security and on buses since the Vice President was there but it the museums, walkways, and parking areas were closed until after the the VP was off the grounds.

To the left and the right of the memorial are a trails down to the crash site and memorial wall. I walked up the trail on the right and loved it. It is gradual and easy walk will well paved trails that would be easy for a wheelchair or stroller.

Special thanks to the Red Cross for bring water for the event.

Random Thoughts about 9/11

Everyone has moment in time which changes their life completely for better or worst. A wedding, a birth of a child, a home run during little league, a new job, an car accident, quitting or getting fired from a job, moving out of your parents house, a death of a loved one. Some of those moments, we understand that we are changed forever in that moment. But others, it takes us time to understand that we are forever changed.

The United State is no different. Black Tuesday on October 29, 1929, was a moment that caused the Great Depression. In the moment, the nation understood that it was an issue but did not feel the real effects until some time later. Apollo 11 landing on the moon on July 20, 1969. The moment of complete joy for not only Neil Armstrong but for America.

Each generation has a moment in time. For example, where were you when Kennedy was assassinated? My mother was under 10 when this happened and can only remember being sent outside to play while all the adults where crying. She did not understand but she remember feeling afraid and confused.

My generation was about the Challenger Disaster. Because I am from California, we also talked about the Whittier Earthquake on January 10, 1987, and/or Loma Prieta during the 1989 World Series.

I was in both. The Whittier one, I was on the third floor of my high school. We where evacuated to a staging area to get picked up by our parents. I had on a white dress and they gave out red juice boxes. Anyone want to guess where that juice box spilled on me?

The Loma Prieta, I was home alone with my six younger sibling with a note from my mother that she went up to San Francisco for the day. If my mother had not needed the bathroom, she would have been on the bridge that collapsed. She did not get home until about 3 am and was unable to call home.

September 11, 2001, has taken over that question of where you when you heard the news. I was in Alaska working the Night Auditor position at the Goldbelt Hotel covering for an employee who left the position two weeks prior. Every night when I completed my work, I would go over and watch CNN. It had been a slow news week with CNN covering shark attacks on the East Coast.

But when I turned on CNN, they where reporting the first plane hitting a tower as a horrible accident. As I watched the second plane go into the tower, I realized that was no accident. I even said it out loud to an empty restaurant/hotel lobby.

The moment burned into my brain as I watched the second plain crash into the tower. The innocent of feeling safe in America was gone. The thought that America was at war and who in my family would go overseas. The fear of what would happen next. The feeling of being absolutely stunned and helpless to help in any way.

Myself and my loved ones gathered around the TV to watch as the rest of the day played out. Calling my children to the TV to watch as history was being made and to explain to them what was happening. Only to see people jumping or being sucked out of the windows and sending my children upstairs to play.

I will be visiting the Flight 93 National Memorial on the 18th anniversary to remember those who have been lost both on 9/11, after 9/11, and those who are still fighting mentally or physical from the effects of 9/11 and it aftermath. But I will also be taking a moment to forgive those who felt it was necessary to attack America and hope that their families are at peace and moving on to a happier life.

Only in forgiveness can we heal the wounds that both sides have inflicted on each other over the years. Only in working together can we ensure that this does not happen again to the next generation. But in forgiving and being willing to work together, I will never forget September 11, 2001, or those who where lost on or during the aftermath. I only hope for a better future for my children and those of the children of people who felt that they had to attacked America.

Brief history

Hurricane Erin was on everyone’s mind on September 10, 2001. It created thunderstorms in New York. Footage from the Twin Towers was taken of those thunderstorm was late as 11 pm. But Hurricane Erin was pushed out to sea by morning and the East Coast was a beautiful clear sunny day with visible sky’s.

It leaves a question of what if the Hurricane Erin had hit? Would it have effected delays at the airports? Would the Hijackers been able to find their targets? But it is something that we will never know but the weather we got was smoke plumes traveled up from New York, Washington DC, and a small little town in Pennsylvania starting at around 8 am.

At 7:59 am, American Airlines Flight 11 takes off from Boston’s Logan International Airport. At 8:46 am, 47 minutes later, Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

During the attack on the cockpit, passenger Daniel Lewin throat was slashed. It is believed that he tried to stop the hijackers from getting into the cockpit. He is believed to be the first fatality on 9/11.

At 8:14 am, United Airlines Flight 175 takes off from Boston. At 9:03 am, 49 minutes later, Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Several of the crew and passengers made calls to family members. The passengers were considering storming the cockpit and fighting back. But believed that they had time to think about it.

At 8:20 am, American Airlines Flight 77 takes off from Dulles International Airport. At 9:37 am, 1 hour and 17 minutes later, Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon. Only a few passengers on this flight made calls so little is know about what happened on the plane.

At 8:41 am, United Airlines Flight 93 takes off from Newark International Airport. At about 9:29 am, Hijackers attack the cockpit. At 10:07 am, 1 hour and 26 minutes after take off and 38 minutes after the Hijackers attack the cockpit, Flight 93 crashes into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Due to delay at the airport, Flight 93 took off 42 minutes late. The pilots actually got a message moments before the hijackers stormed the cockpit that two planes had hit the World Trade Center. For next 30 minutes, passengers and crew called friends, family, and colleagues. During these calls, they relayed information about what was happening on plane.

But even more importantly, those who where being called relayed back information on the other three flights. In true American fashion, those on the flight took a vote to try to take back the plane. They know that they were going to die but they choose to die fighting.

At about 9:57 am, a battle cry from Thomas Burnett, “Let’s Roll” was heard and for the next six minutes, passengers and crew fought to get into the cockpit. The hijackers rolled the plane to the left, right, up, and down to try and shake off the revolt. Finally choosing to down the aircraft in a field in Pennsylvania.

We will never know the total true events on these four flights. Who put themselves in harms way to save another or even to calm those who needed calming. Each flight had heroes that we will never know about. But thankfully for a delay in take off, Flight 93 allowed us to hear about a few of those heroes that saved countless lives on the ground.