September 11, 2001 is a marked day in everyone's memory. For Ryan, Renee and me the most profound memory is Daddy being near Shanksville when the plane went down. Because of cell service we were not able to reach him. We were quite afraid. I will never forget Ryan's teacher calling me, asking me to pick him up from school because after gathering all the children in one place and turning on the television, he turned panicky because he knew daddy was in PA. Little did he know how close.
For this reason Flight 93 memorial is quite special to us. After all, the people demanded something be built in honor of those who lost their lives and ultimately saved the capitol from being attacked. This project is a public-private partnership for creating the Memorial and it is remarkable.
Just the day before we arrived on Sunday, 3500 trees were planted by 150 volunteers. Eventually there will be many more thousands of trees planted for providing a wind break. The walk to the memorial wall is respectful, sacred and made from concrete with granite intermixed to make a sparkle affect.
Along the pathway there are 3 crevices where you can place an item in memory of those lost.
When you reach the end of the path there is a gorgeous marble wall with the names of each of the 7 crewmembers and 33 passengers. One of the passengers was pregnant and beside her name is inscripted "an unborn child"....this was very moving.
There is also a pathway designated for family members to actually go down to where the plane impacted and made the crater.
It was a coal mining field one day and a final resting place for 44 others the next. One point that really stands out throughout the entire memorial is that the 4 terrorists are never mentioned. They are referred to as terrorists. No names. They are in the field of honor but are not honorable.
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