I drove to a show in Pittsburgh yesterday. Instead of taking the Pennsylvania Turnpike across PA (which is narrow, congested, and expensive), I opted to take the parallel four and two-lane state route 30 (a little mountainous, but otherwise clear of traffic and free).
While driving on Route 30, I passed a sign that said, “Flight 93 Memorial 4 Miles.” I immediately estimated how much wiggle room I had in my commute and decided to stop off and spend some time visiting the memorial. I’m so glad I did.
I’m so glad that the National Park service built this memorial to the 40 (plus one unborn baby) people murdered on that flight on Sept 11th, 2001. The flight recorder was the only one of the four hijacked planes that was recovered. The information gathered from the flight recorder plus the testimony of family and others who were called during the flight show that there was a heroic struggle to defeat the terrorists.
This was the last of the four planes to crash, so people on board got word that the first three had already hit targets. Since they knew this plane was also a suicide mission, they figured they had nothing to lose and everything to gain by mounting an attack.
And attack they did. The struggle caused the plane, which was headed straight for Washington D.C. and on course for probably the White House or the Capitol, to descend at a 40 degree angle upside down at over 500mph. The crew and passengers stopped the terrorists from succeeding, and died heroically in the process.
These are true American heroes and they embody the American spirit of standing up against evil no matter the cost.
Here are some pics from my visit. The first one is the field where the plane crashed. There is a small memorial boulder on the left side of the photo that is accessible only by family members. The public can view from a walkway and memorial area.
