Flight 93

I had originally planned to stay around Johnstown but it was only 3pm (and frankly I was too traumatized from the horror film to hang around). I decided to drive over to the Flight 93 Memorial. As you all probably remember, the Flight 93 National Memorial protects the site of the crash of United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked in the September 11 attacks. The plane was intended to target the White House but because of the brave people onboard, it miraculously crashed in the middle of a cornfield only 20 minutes flying time from D.C. The site now is basically a construction zone because the first phase of a permanent memorial is currently being constructed. The hole where the plane gouged into the earth has since been filled in and really it’s just an empty field again but it still moved me to tears. People still leave flags and memorials stuck in the fence, reminders that, almost 10 years later, these people are still loved and remembered.

There’s a little construction shanty the size of a storage shed that has a small exhibit that goes over the timeline of that day. I learned a lot that I had never heard before. What really got me though were the binders containing the biographies of those people killed and the phone transcripts of the passengers who called their loved ones when they realized they had been hijacked. One lady left a message for her friend with the combination to her safe. There was also a little exhibit with various memorials left like flags, badges, figurines, etc. and a wall where visitors could leave a note. Also displayed was a rendering of what the memorial will look like when it’s completed and I would love to come back and see it because the concept looks beautiful. All in all, a very emotional day filled with historic tragedies.