September 11, 2001

In memory of those who died ten years ago tomorrow, let me re-post what I wrote in 2006 when my son and I visited Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United 93 crashed.  I am also including a picture I took back then:

Shanksville, Pennsylvania

On the way home from our daughter’s graduation from the University of Virginia, my son and I stopped at Shanksville, Pennsylvania. After seeing "United 93," I looked at the website for the memorial there for the passengers and crew of United Flight 93. I saw it was only a few miles from exit 110 on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

As a family some or all of us have been to a number of places: Lexington, Kaskaskia and Yorktown; Fort McHenry; Shiloh, Gettysburg, the Wilderness and Appomattox; Pearl Harbor, Normandy and St. Vith; and Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin. So it seemed appropriate to stop at Shanksville.

While temporary and small, the memorial is very impressive. Started originally by volunteers from the area, it still has that feeling to it, which is appropriate, because that is what Flight 93 is all about: Ordinary Americans doing what needed to be done because somebody had to do it and it was up to them.

A big memorial is planned for the site, but since it is a government project, it will be a long time coming. Don’t wait for it. Go now. See the memorial as it is: A simple thing, by Americans for Americans. You won’t be sorry.

In memory of those who died ten years ago tomorrow, let me re-post what I wrote in 2006 when my son and I visited Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United 93 crashed.  I am also including a picture I took back then:

Shanksville, Pennsylvania

On the way home from our daughter’s graduation from the University of Virginia, my son and I stopped at Shanksville, Pennsylvania. After seeing "United 93," I looked at the website for the memorial there for the passengers and crew of United Flight 93. I saw it was only a few miles from exit 110 on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

As a family some or all of us have been to a number of places: Lexington, Kaskaskia and Yorktown; Fort McHenry; Shiloh, Gettysburg, the Wilderness and Appomattox; Pearl Harbor, Normandy and St. Vith; and Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin. So it seemed appropriate to stop at Shanksville.

While temporary and small, the memorial is very impressive. Started originally by volunteers from the area, it still has that feeling to it, which is appropriate, because that is what Flight 93 is all about: Ordinary Americans doing what needed to be done because somebody had to do it and it was up to them.

A big memorial is planned for the site, but since it is a government project, it will be a long time coming. Don’t wait for it. Go now. See the memorial as it is: A simple thing, by Americans for Americans. You won’t be sorry.