SHANKSVILLE MEMORIAL UNITED 93
September 11, 2001 Pennsylvania This Tuesday in September started like most Fall days in the landscaping business, with our crew doing lawn work at a client's home south of Pittsburgh. The day became extraordinary when the client came out of the house to say one of the World Trade Center towers was on fire. We went back into the house and watched in awe as the scene unfolded on her small kitchen television. Our first thought was that an errant plane (initial news speculated it was a small plane) went astray and accidentally hit the skyscraper. As we continued to watch, the second tower was hit by a commercial jet. At that point, we knew these were no accidents. We listened intently to the radio while driving to our second client's house. All US flights were quickly grounded, but there were reports of a commercial jet passing near Pittsburgh, just to our north. We watched the skies and continued listening to radio news reports, but never caught a glimpse of United 93. In the following weeks, we learned the story of the brave passengers on Flight 93 who fought back against their captors, sacrificing their own lives in order to prevent another important target, and more innocent lives, from being lost. That planned target could easily have been the US Capitol Building, with our Congressmen being the casualties. This web page is dedicated to the memory of the 33 passengers and 7 crew members on Flight 93. The photos below will give those who haven't seen the temporary memorial an opportunity to sense what it's like to visit Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
	Welcome to SHANKSVILLE Home of the Vikings 'A Friendly Little Town' Est. 1803 Shanksville Honors the Heroes of Flight 93
Sunday April 2, 2006 As my motorcycle journey drew close to the memorial site, there was a special feeling that's hard to describe, the same feeling a person gets when visiting hallowed ground in Gettysburg, or approaching 'The Wall' in Washington, DC. As these photos clearly show, the individuals on Flight 93 are not forgotten, and live on in many ways, shapes, and forms.
Sunday June 10, 2007 Return to Shanksville A stop along the way at one of the Somerset Sheetz stores brought about an amazing conversation. A man in his 40's walked past with his young daughter, as they headed into the store for a Kit Kat candy bar. On their return trip, I struck up a conversation with them about her pink shoes which were very similar to the 'Jellies' our daughter wore at 4-years-old. After mentioning that my next stop was Shanksville (June 2007 photo on left) he told me that he was working outdoors in the scrap yard above the crash site the day Flight 93 came roaring over at "telephone pole height" with its wings dipping back and forth before its final rollover and high speed plunge into the earth only a quarter-mile away. He said an older fellow was cutting scrap with him and had taken his hearing aids out, but the roar and explosion was so loud he thought a large, nearby gas line had exploded. His firsthand account cleared up two things: 1) it really did happen - which discounts the conspiracy theorists, and 2) it wasn't shot down - he said there was another plane in the sky (similar to a Lear jet) but that plane was way off in the distance. Amazingly enough, his little girl was born one year later, to the day, on 9-11-02, a fact that still seemed amazing, even to him. Whose Bible was it then? My return visit to the Thunder on the Mountain chapel provided an answer that I need to research further. There had been a local newspaper story (see below) about a Bible that survived the fiery crash virtually unburned, and it reportedly belonged to a young Japanese passenger named Kuge. However, according to Reverend Alphonse Mascherino at the chapel, Kuge's mother has visited with him a couple times and knows of no such Bible that her son possessed. If her son had owned the Bible, she feels it would have been given back to her by the authorities, and no Bible has ever been returned. Therefore, the Bible must have belonged to someone else. (Check back here for further updates since I plan to contact the newspaper reporter who wrote the original story for his further insights).
Map to Shanksville Mapquest map of Shanksville, Pennsylvania
*Arrival at the temporary Shanksville Memorial* By chance, my visit coincided with a young lady who was personally devastated on 9-11 when she lost a close childhood friend who was a New York Fire Fighter, when the south tower collapsed. During a period of reflection, she decided what artwork would appropriately respect the remembrance. Below are photos of the custom painted car she drives to the Shanksville Memorial every year.

CUSTOM PAINTED 9-11 CAR

THOUGH I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH...

I SHALL FEAR NO EVIL...

New York Fire Fighters raising Old Glory

FOR YOU ARE WITH ME...

NEVER FORGET

ALWAYS REMEMBERING 9-11-01

WHY THE PASSENGERS HAD TIME TO ACT

Flight 93 was 41 minutes late leaving Newark Airport for its planned flight to San Francisco. This delay allowed time for the passengers on Flight 93 to learn of the other three hijackings via their cell phones, and realize their planned fate; being a passenger on a jumbo jet that would be flown into the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC, or perhaps even the White House.

As the Boeing 757 neared Cleveland, Ohio at 9:28am, it abruptly changed course and turned southeast. Just before 10:00am the plane was seen flying very low and erratically in the Pittsburgh area. While traveling at an estimated 500 mph, the 757 crashed at 10:03am into a reclaimed strip mine area in Somerset County, killing all 33 passengers, 7 crew and 4 hijackers.

FLIGHT 93
TEMPORARY MEMORIAL
PHOTOS

An estimated 150,000 annual visitors

NEVER FORGET
9-11 MEMORIAL RUN
OXFORD, MI.

LETS ROLL...
IN MEMORIAM

Those gallant passengers and flight crew members of United Airlines Flight 93 that on September 11th 2001 defeated the coward terrorist hijackers and their intended purpose.
Blessed are the Peacemakers... for their heroism has allowed freedom to go on ringing.

WE HONOR YOU...
    WE ADMIRE YOU...
        WE SALUTE YOU...
...AND WE SHALL NEVER FORGET.

MAY THIS LAND REMAIN FOREVER... AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL.

Herbert Erdmenger
La Rioja, Villa Canales
Guatemala, Guatemala

I LOVE
AMERICA

American
Firefighters m/c

Chicago to New York
9-11 Memorial Ride

Never Forget 9-11
Ride to Pentagon

RELIGIOUS ITEMS

BASE OF THE CROSS

America's 9/11 Ride Foundation, Inc.

FOR OUR HEROES

MEMORIAL WALL

MEMORIAL ITEMS ATTACHED TO THE FENCING

MEMENTOS OF EVERY TYPE

MEMENTOS NUMBERING IN THE THOUSANDS

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down ones life for his friends

JOHN 15:13
THANK YOU

IN THIS ROCK WE PERPETUALLY COMMEMORATE THE COURAGE OF THOSE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES ON UAL FLIGHT #93 ON SEPTEMBER 11 2001

THEIR LEGACY WILL ENDURE
FUTURE GENERATIONS WILL BE REMINDED OF THEIR HONOR AND COURAGE.

DEDICATED BY THE UNITED STATES FEDERAL AIR MARSHAL SERVICE
SEPTEMBER 11, 2005

Flight 93 Memorial Stone Dedicated by the Air Marshal Service

Air Marshal Service Flight 93 Memorial Stone

In MEMORY OF Flight 93

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Staff and Students of
Friedens Elementary School

The back of the flag is signed
by the students and staff

Friedens Elementary School memorial flag

Memorial by Students and Staff of Friedens Elementary School

Hand painted rocks

Hats from everywhere

SOMERSET COUNTY
PENNSYLVANIA

FLT93 949

WHERE AMERICA
FOUGHT BACK

ANGELS OF FREEDOM

Few can begin to understand what drives men to such acts of desperation, But the World must now know the resolve of this great nation is both unshakeable and unstoppable.

This day ordinary Americans took extraordinary steps to help their fellow Americans and by doing so gave the greatest sacrifice.

And so these Angels of Freedom stand not as a memorial to those who died, but rather as a celebration of their lives for which we will forever be in their debt.

God Bless the Families and Friends of The Heroes of September 11, 2001.

Eric and Tammy Pearson

Angels of Freedom at the Shanksville Memorial

SEPTEMBER 17, 2006

In a field...
in Shanksville, PA
away from everything for
miles around, people come
from everywhere
on Earth, over 5,000 people
every week to place a flag...
to write a note...
on anything available
including stones on the ground
40 people heroically
stopped an attack on America
and saved many lives
LET'S ROLL

MEMORIAL STONES

MEMORIAL BENCHES

MEMORIAL HATS

SYMBOL OF FAITH
By Tom Lavis
October 22, 2001

Teams of emergency personnel who responded to the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 near Shanksville made a discovery that shocked and inspired them. Resting not far from the smoldering, 25-foot-deep crater where 40 innocent victims perished, firefighters found a Bible that was barely singed. Only minutes before, the area had been a raging inferno as jet fuel ignited into a fireball when the plane plowed into the earth.

See update above:
Whose Bible was it then?

Tom Lavis story of the Bible that survived the crash of Flight 93

Kuge's Bible

It was later learned that the Bible in the news article belonged to a 20 year old Japanese man.

The leather cover on Toshiya Kuge's Bible was singed, but none of the pages were burned.

Japanese flag memorializing Toshiya Kuge

Remembering
TOSHIYA KUGE

Sanders Family memorial stone

Lampeter-Strasburg High School Basketball Team plaque

SHANKSVILLE
AND THE
HEROES OF FLIGHT 93

Lampeter-Strasburg High School plaque to the Heroes of Flight 93

FLIGHT 93 AMBASSADORS
One of the memorial volunteers uses pictures to help visitors learn more about the events in Shanksville on and after 9-11

SHANKSVILLE

We remember
FDNY-343 9-11-01

Remembering
JEAN & DON PETERSON

"Perhaps they are not the stars, but rather the openings in Heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are Happy....."

ART STUDENTS FROM CHARLES COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN MARYLAND

We will never
forget our heroes

BEAR DEN 7
PACK 203

US Flag made from tiles

BOY SCOUT TROOP
131
Somerset, Pennyslvania

To the 40 "scouts" on United Flight 93 ... We Will Never Forget!

The final moments of Flight 93

1

United Flight 93 approached from this direction

Flight path of Flight 93 before crash

2

The 757 passed over this salvage yard at the top of the hill

3

It was last seen flying very low and at an extremely high rate of speed

Flight 93 crash site

4

The plane flipped over and crashed nose down in the foreground of this evergreen forest

THE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN OF UNITED 93

FLIGHT OFFICERS
Captain Jason Dahl
First Officer LeRoy Homer, Jr.

FLIGHT ATTENDANTS
Lorraine G. Bay
Sandra W. Bradshaw
Wanda A. Green
CeeCee Lyles
Deborah A. Jacobs Welsh

PASSENGERS
Christian Adams
Todd Beamer
Alan Beaven
Mark Bingham
Deora Bodley
Marion Britton
Thomas E. Burnett, Jr.
William Cashman
Georgine Rose Corrigan
Patricia Cushing
Joseph DeLuca
Patrick "Joe" Driscoll
Edward Porter Felt
Jane C. Folger
Colleen L. Fraser
Andrew Garcia
Jeremy Glick
Lauren Grandcolas
Donald F. Green
Linda Gronlund
Richard Guadagno
Toshiya Kuge
Hilda Marcin
Waleska Martinez
Nicole Carol Miller
Louis J. Nacke, II
Donald A. Peterson
Jean Peterson
Mark "Mickey" Rothenberg
Christine Snyder
John Talignani
Honor Elizabeth Wainio
Kristin White-Gould

THIS MEMORIAL IS IN MEMORY
OF THE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN
WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES
TO SAVE SO MANY OTHERS.
THEIR COURAGE AND LOVE
OF OUR COUNTRY WILL BE
A SOURCE OF STRENGTH AND COMFORT
TO OUR GREAT NATION.
GOD BLESS AMERICA.

UNITED FLIGHT 93
SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

Leaving the Memorial

United 93 Temporary Memorial in Shanksville, PA

The crash site was formerly
an open pit mine

The two old abandoned draglines shown below, excavated this strip mine for coal. Now the two behemoths stand silent watch over the reclaimed terrain

Just down the road from the crash site

Thunder on The Mountain
Flight 93 Memorial Chapel
Shanksville, Pennsylvania

View of the Chapel from the parking lot

Inside the Chapel

Individual plaques honoring the passengers and crew

Passenger Mark Bingham's plaque

THUNDER ON THE MOUNTAIN FLIGHT 93 MEMORIAL CHAPEL

FOUNDER REVEREND ALPHONSE MASCHERINO

DEDICATED SEPTEMBER 11, 2002

DONATED BY FRANK & PATRICIA GUERRA

IN MEMORY OF DEORA BODLEY

Beside the Chapel

A monument dedicated on September 11, 2006 in
honor of the 40 passengers and crew of Flight 93

THIS MONUMENT IS DEDICATED TO THE HEROES OF UAL FLIGHT 93 BY
UAL NEWARK FLIGHT ATTENDANTS
THE CAUSE FOUNDATION
FAMILY AND FRIENDS
SEPTEMBER 11, 2006

THE MONUMENT AREA IS PAVED AND SURROUNDED BY FOUR ENGRAVED BLACK BENCHES

THE MONUMENT HAS SEVEN PANELS HONORING THE TWO PILOTS AND FIVE FLIGHT ATTENDANTS. THE EIGHTH PANEL IS ENGRAVED WITH:

IN HONOR OF
THE CREW
UNITED AIRLINES
FLIGHT 93
SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS

FOUR ENGRAVED BENCHES LIST THE THIRTY-THREE PASSENGERS

WHEN READ IN SEQUENCE THE BENCHES READ
"A GRATEFUL NATION
WILL FOREVER HONOR
THE COURAGE AND PATRIOTISM
OF THE FLIGHT 93 PASSENGERS"

THE MONUMENT IS TOPPED
WITH A 757 JET

Historical items

The following items are on display at the
Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, PA

United Airlines Flight 93 wreckage; piece of fuselage and seatbelt

Collected by curators from the National Museum of American History

Piece of Flight 93 fuselage

Portable mass kit and holy water vial used by Father Joseph McCaffrey. 'Father Mac' provided spiritual support to security personnel as well as a few family members of victims, at the crash site in Shanksville

Father McCaffrey's jacket

Father Joseph McCaffrey items

Rosary beads and
ID badge

Venetian mask
c.2003

Sergio Boldrin, Italian mascarero (maskmaker) created this mask from paper mache to commemorate September 11 for Pittsburgh flag collector, Dr. Pete Keim

Venetian mask commemorating 9-11

RECENT FLIGHT 93 MEMORIAL HEADLINES

July 24, 2010
Visitors return to Flight 93, Quecreek sites

July 8, 2010
Temporary Flight 93 Memorial makes way for permanent one

March 29, 2010
Bids planned for highway to Flight 93 Memorial

January 30, 2010
Western Pennsylvania could host 9/11 terror trial

November 8, 2009
Emotional event near Shanksville honors Flight 93 heroes

September 3, 2009
Motorcycle ride to raise funds for Flight 93 memorial
EDITORIAL: Remembering Flight 93: The deal is done

September 1, 2009
Flight 93 memorial stalemate ends with $9.5M in land deals

August 12, 2009
Giuliani, Bleier throw support behind Flight 93 memorial

NEW TEMPORARY FLIGHT 93 MEMORIAL

At the end of July 2008, the temporary Flight 93 Memorial moved across the road, placing it less than 100 yards from the original temporary memorial. Below are some photos of the new memorial from August 13, 2008

Flight 93 Memorial Wall