Flight 93 National Memorial - 9/10/16

From Hagerstown, MD we turned north west again into Pennsylvania and drove to a campground near Somerset, PA.    Our purpose was to visit the Flight 93 Memorial.   We decided that visiting the memorial on 9/11 would be foolhardy and decided to arrive on the 10th instead.  

The Memorial is a tribute to the passengers and crew of Flight 93 and is a place to explore this story.   When we arrived we noticed the huge number of National Guard Members, the numerous National Park Rangers, and volunteers from the aged to high school students.   We learned that they were expecting 5000 on 9/11.   Glad we came early!  

The tall walls of the Visitor Center Complex and the dark tiles symbolize the flight path of the plane and the 40 rushed the terrorists.  Inside the Memorial I found the wall of photographs and some of the belongings in cases very moving.    Especially moving was the final phone calls of some of the passengers and crew we were able to hear.  

We took the shuttle down to the Memorial Plaza borders the crash site, which consists of the impact site (marked by a large Boulder) and the debris field.   THe field and the woods beyond are the final resting place for the passengers and crew; their remains are still present.   A large white wall with panels with the names of the passengers and crew are also there.   Many panels had bouquets of flowers at their base.     No one but family members are allowed at the impact site and the debris field.

A future Tower of Voices will have 40 wind chimes and is scheduled for completion by 2017.