7/16/2014 - 7/19/2014 Flight 93 Memorial

We left Misty Mountain Resort Thursday, 7/17/2014 for our destination in Bedford, PA. We stayed in Friendship Village Campground.  http://www.friendshipvillagecampground.com/welcome/ .  We like the sites.  It has two swimming pools, miniature golf, fishing etc.  Our site was one of the largest and flat.

Our purpose for the visit was to visit the Flight 93 Memorial which was twenty miles away.  We arrived and learned that the field where Flight 93 came down was a coal mine restoration project.  It is still being restored, and the memorial is quite impressive.  There are continuing to build at this site.  A visitors center, a tower of voices and a walkway are either in progress or planned over the next two years.    The memorial is very respectful of the forty people who died here.

The flight data recorder that was recovered from the crash site revealed that the terrorists had reprogrammed the aircraft's autopilot system for a new destination - Washington, D.C. Recovered evidence and responses to interrogations revealed that the terrorists' intended target was most likely the United States Capitol Building, where the nation's legislators were in session. Flight 93 crashed only 20 minutes flying-time from Washington, D.C.

Because of the quick and determined actions of the passengers and crew, Flight 93 was the only one of the four hijacked aircraft that failed to reach the terrorists' intended target that day. The passengers and crew showed unity, courage, and defiance in the face of adversity.

A park volunteer told the entire story along with individual reasons for the passenger being on the plane.  A boulder was placed at the impact point and a wall of names has been erected along the actual flight path.   The memorial wall has a section per passenger.

There is also a phone number to dial with extensions to get a portion of the story as you visit each section.  http://www.nps.gov/flni/photosmultimedia/upload/cell_tour_scripts_formatted_4-2013.pdf
It was a good way to get questions answered.
The Flight 93 web page is:  http://www.nps.gov/flni/index.htm

The pictures are of the area as we toured.  Read and learn about this event from ground level.

To us this was a very respectful place where you can just sit and reflect on things.  It is the final resting place of forty people who started their day just going about their daily lives.  In the course of thirty minutes, they were hijacked, realized via phones calls made how dire their situation was, formulated a plan, voted on that plan, and enacted the plan.  Due to their heroic actions many were saved.  These forty people are true heroes.  They will never be forgotten!

A common field one day.

        A field of honor forever.