Remembering Flight 93: 21 Years Later
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden comforts a airline flight attendant during a second ceremony honoring the flight attendants and pilots who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks (Olivia Pasquale/AKSM Photography).
Hundreds gathered at the crash site of Flight 93 to honor the heroes who fought back on September 11, 2001.
Article by Tommy Lynch, White House Reporter
SHANKSVILLE, PA - The 21st memorial for the passengers and crew on-board Flight 93 on September 11th, 2001 took place on a rainy morning in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, park rangers, secret service members, sailors from the USS Somerset, and other government officials gathered at the memorial, where 40 slabs of pristine, white granite stand with the name of each passenger and flight crew etched into the front.
“One never knows when a quiet day will become a defining moment of a lifetime,” said Stephen Clark, Superintendent of the National Parks in Western Pennsylvania.
21 years after the 9/11 attacks, it doesn’t get any easier for the victim’s families. On that September morning, terrorists hijacked four planes with the goal of sending a message of terror to the United States.
While two planes flew into each World Trade Center tower in Lower Manhattan and one plane flew into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., the fourth plane never reached its target.
The fourth plane, Flight 93, was set to fly into the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
What the hijackers did not expect was for their hostages to be planning an attempt to fight back.
The passengers on the flight voted to storm the cockpit to rip control from the hijackers and avoid hitting the Capitol Building where the House was in session. They succeeded in avoiding the Capitol, and instead crashed into an empty field. All 40 passengers on board the plane perished, saving the lives of all U.S. House of Representative members.
Throughout the memorial, two bells of remembrance sounded as a volunteer ambassador of the memorial read each passenger’s name. Some of the victims’ family members attended the ceremony, and stood up to read the names of their lost loved ones.
Ginny Barnett, a Red Cross volunteer who aided Shanksville following the attacks, now volunteers at the memorial to share the stories and bravery from the members of the flight.
“I focused on the goodness in response to that day,” shared Barnett, “Their courage, bravery, unity, [and] selfless actions all in the face of tremendous evil and adversity. That is the definition of heroism... Evil may have dominated that day, but it cannot dominate us.”
Connie Hasenei, the great niece of Flight 93 passenger Patricia Cushing, also spoke.
“My generation does not remember the day of September 11, 2001,” said Hasenei, 22. “Because of my connection to Flight 93, I am more aware of what happened that day, and feel I have a huge responsibility being part of the younger generation that has a personal connection to not only the 9/11 attacks, but to specifically Flight 93.”
Hasenei is working to make sure the impact of the 9/11 attacks is not lost on the younger generation of people who do not remember or were not alive to experience the day.
“Flight 93 is a very unique story, and throughout the years, the community has truly embraced both the honor and the responsibility to remember our forty heroes,” said Hasenei. “So now, I challenge all of you to think about how you will honor the sacrifices of our heroes.”
After the Choir of the Church of Resurrection performed the song “September Morning,” Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland introduced First Lady Dr. Jill Biden.
Biden began her speech praising the speakers before her.
“This has been such a beautiful and meaningful remembrance.” said Biden. “I’m deeply honored to be here with you all.”
For Biden, the attacks affected her on a familial level. Biden’s sister, Bonny Jacobs, is a flight attendant for United Airlines and lost colleagues and friends in the attacks.
“You have stories of pride,” she said, “Stories of heroes who stood up to terror... stories of hope, of the humanity that shined through the inhumanity that day.”
Biden emphasized the importance of looking ahead and focusing on whatever good came from that day. “With courage and kindness we can be a light in that darkness,” called out Biden, reminding us to work as one, “we are all connected to one another.”
After her speech, Biden laid a wreath at the wall of names before heading out with the victims’ families to the crash site, which is signified with a large sandstone boulder that is not accessible to the general public.
Afterwards, Biden and Jacobs posed for pictures with pilots and flight attendants of the Association of Flight Attendants before leaving the memorial.
In Memoriam
Christian Adams
Lorraine G. Bay
Todd M. Beamer
Alan Anthony Beaven
Mark Bingham
Deora Frances Bodley
Sandy Waugh Bradshaw
Marion R. Britton
Thomas E. Burnett, Jr.
William Joseph Cashman
Georgine Rose Corrigan
Patricia Cushing
Jason M. Dahl
Joseph DeLuca
Patrick Joseph Driscoll
Edward Porter Felt
Jane C. Folger
Colleen L. Fraser
Andrew (Sonny) Garcia
Jeremy Logan Glick
Kristin Osterholm White Gould
Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas
Donald Freeman Greene
Wanda Anita Green
Linda Gronlund
Richard J. Guadagno
LeRoy Homer
Toshiya Kuge
CeeCee Ross Lyles
Hilda Marcin
Waleska Martinez
Nicole Carol Miller
Louis J. Nacke II
Donald Arthur Peterson
Jean Hoadley Peterson
Mark David Rothenberg
Christine Ann Snyder
John Talignani
Honor Elizabeth Wainio
Deborah Jacobs Welsh