United 93 Memorial Site

On September 11, 2001, our country was attacked by terrorists. It was an event unlike anything most of us have ever seen before in our lifetimes. United 93 was one of four planes hijacked on that day. Two brought down the towers in New York City. One crashed into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. The fourth, United 93, crashed into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. 

The city of Somerset is a short distance from Shanksville, where United 93 crashed on September 11.  After checking into a motel for my evening stay in August of 2009, I set out to find the memorial site. The directions took me along rural Pennsylvania roads to a sign that pointed right.

A bit further on a narrower country road, a sign pointed left down a gravel road. As I crested a hill, the memorial site came into view.

In the center of the above picture, there is a man in a red shirt in front of people in chairs. He is a local resident and was a first responder on the scene of the crash. He had just started in the retelling of his story of September 11^th to this group. 

His narration was fascinating, moving and chilling. Imagine living in a rural area and both hearing and seeing an airliner come crashing to the ground. He shared a photo album that spanned many days after the crash. 

There was a temporary office on this Memorial. There is a book to sign and to leave your thoughts of that day in 2001 and of your visit to this site.

 

Just to the left of this office shack is a flag. Just beyond the flag is a flat, nondescript field where United 93 ended its flight.

 

There is a fence that was erected for visitors to place remembrances to United 93. There are memorials placed on both sides of the fence.  

 

The benches on which people were sitting in the second picture bear the names of the passengers on United 93 on that fateful day.

 There are numerous plaques and memorials that grace the grounds of the memorial. 

 

 

As I was leaving and before I got into my car, I turned to take a final picture of the site. My thought that evening while driving back to my motel was this:

 

        NEVER FORGET WHAT IT FELT LIKE ON THAT DAY!