The other plane

September 6, 2020 -- United Airlines Flight 93 was one of the four aircraft highjacked during the September 11, 2001 attacks by al-Qaeda terrorists. It crashed into an open field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania (near Shanksville), killing all 40 crew and passengers. Before crashing, the passengers intervened. It is not known what the intended target of the aircraft might have been, but the passengers no doubt thwarted it. They are heroes. The terrorists were Islamic scumbags.

Path of plane

Memorial Plaza

The Flight 93 National Memorial is a memorial built to commemorate the crash of Flight 93. The first phase of the memorial was dedicated and open to the public on September 10, 2011. The Memorial Plaza is the quarter-mile northern-boundary to the crash site, which is the final resting place of the 40 passengers and crew members. The Wall of Names features forty white polished marble stones inscribed with the names of the passengers and crew. A boulder near a grove of trees was placed to represent the edge of the impact site.

Wall of names

Mom at the memorial (crash site in the background)

Todd Beamer was one of the passengers aboard Flight 93. He was one of the passengers who attempted to regain control of the aircraft from the hijackers. I took a picture of his name on the memorial stone.

Todd Beamer

The Tower of Voices is a 93-foot tall tower built to commemorate the 40 with one wind chime for each passenger and crew member. The chimes were installed and dedicated four days after our visit. There are no other chime structures like this in the world.

Tower of Voices

I had wanted to visit the Flight 93 memorial for quite some time. I was glad to finally get there. Mom and I found the memorial to be well done, very respectful. There are many paths for walking -- and reflecting. Because we went during the time of Covid, the visitor's center was closed. This is a reason to go back. The Tower of Voices wasn't quite finished either. I'd like to go back to hear the chimes and think about the heroic people who lost their lives that fateful September day.