One of the first things you notice as you drive into the entrance of the Flight 93 National Memorial is a large tower on the left called the Tower of Voices. As Janet and I parked the car and got out to inspect the monument, we learned that there are 40 wind chimes in the tower representing the 40 passengers and crew that were lost on that fateful day of September 11, 2001. The chimes only ring with a 15 mile an hour wind and when we visited this weekend, it was sunny and beautiful with virtually no wind or breeze. So, we could not hear the chimes. But the silence was a way for us to begin our tour of very sacred ground near Shanksville, Pa.

We don’t have many National Parks near us and even though Janet and I have visited many of them, to have one so close to home is a real blessing. This one has a special feel and was developed in 2002. The Memorial Plaza and the Wall of Names opened to the public on September 11, 2011. The Visitor Center complex was completed 4 years later, and the Tower of Voices completed the memorial design on September 20,2020.

As with a lot of the National Parks, the scenery is spectacular, and the layout of this particular memorial park is so well done. You can walk along the Memorial Plaza following the boundary of the crash site to see the Wall of Names which are individually marked sections with each of the passengers and crew’s names. Seeing this from a distance, it looks like a single wall. The park rangers told us that was by design to show the unified action of the passengers and crew that day. A 17 ton sandstone boulder shows the visitor the exact site of the crash. The debris field is still the final resting place for the crew and passengers that day. The impact was so great that there was hardly anything left, save for some surviving items and pieces of the plane that were recovered in the weeks that followed the crash.

As we walked along the path, I remarked that it is amazing to see how much open land is in the park and how providential it was for the flight to go down and not kill any residents of the area. But the real somber moments are when you walk into the Visitor’s Center and see the films playing the events of that fateful day- the two buildings in New York, the Pentagon and the open field in Shanksville, Pa. The final actions and the bravery of those passengers and crew most likely saved the Capitol building in Washington, DC which was 20 minutes flying time away and the intentional target of the terrorists. Walking through the center, you can see the video presentations, and hear the conversations from the flight deck. You see the crew and passengers and take in the enormous bravery it took for them to overtake the hijackers and crash the plane instead of having it be the intended weapon bound for our nation’s capital.

Time has a way of numbing or even erasing the horrific events of that day. It has been 22 years and sometimes we tend to get complacent or even forget those fiery moments when our country was attacked. As you exit the Visitor’s Center and make your way along the path, the silence of those walking, together with Janet and I not talking much, indicated the reverence for that place. When the events are brought back into your eyesight and you remember that day, it is a feeling that you will never forget once you are reminded again with a visit to the Flight 93 Memorial. Busloads of kids started to show up as we were exiting and talking with the park rangers, they say this is a common occurrence. This is history and we thought it was so great that the young people today not only are educated on those events, but have the opportunity to visit a beautiful park dedicated to extraordinary bravery. Jan and I both remarked how hopeless and frightening it must have been for that crew and passengers to be herded into the back of the plane knowing without a doubt this would be their final minutes on this earth. But the heroism of several of the passengers, not wanting the hijacking to be successful, was unthinkable. When you see their faces and know what they did to save others, you get a sense of what it takes to be a true hero. Those passengers that day were all true heroes and the individual panels dedicated to each of them on the Wall of Names, is a fitting tribute that will stand the test of time.

As Jan and I exited the park, the mood in the Jeep was definitely somber. A visit to the park will not only be visually stimulating,, but when you see all the events brought back to you with the videos and displays at the Visitor’s Center, you will once again remember the horrible set of events that took place that day- 22 years ago. It seems like yesterday.

Congress designated the crash site as a national memorial in 2002. Paul Murdoch Architects and Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects won the international design competition in 2005. The memorial has been created through a public private partnership including the Families of Flight 93, Friends of Flight 93, National Park Foundation, and the National Park Service. To learn more about how you can support the memorial visit http://www.flight93friends.org

We love the National Parks. This is one that everyone in the country should visit in their lifetime. Never forget, be vigilant, and thanks for reading.

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