Explore the Flight 93 Memorial in The Laurel Highlands of PA. Take a journey to pay a heartfelt tribute to the heroes of 9/11 who gave their lives to save so many.
Somerset County in The Laurel Highlands is only 50 miles from Pittsburgh. However, you feel like you’re in another world. Towns like Latrobe, Stoystown, and Shanksville could be in a Norman Rockwell painting. Winding roads take you through rolling hills and wooded areas with streams and waterfalls. Along the road, you see small businesses and farms with grazing cattle and bales of hay in the fields. Before Tuesday, September 11, 2001, most people outside Southwestern Pennsylvania had never heard of The Laurel Highlands, Somerset County, or places like Stoystown and Shanksville. By the end of the day, everyone had.
Just after 10 AM, terrorist hijackers crashed United Flight 93, which was en route from Newark International Airport to San Francisco, California, in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. It was the fourth plane hijacked that day by Islamic jihadists in what would become the deadliest terrorist attack in US history.
The hijackers probably planned to fly Flight 93, the fourth plane, into the US Capitol or the White House. They never got the chance, thanks to the heroic actions of the 40 passengers and crew members onboard.
What Happened on Flight 93?
The hijackers forced the 33 passengers and seven crew members to move to the back of the plane. When the terrorists weren’t looking, the passengers and crew used Airfones to call their families, friends, and authorities to report the hijacking. When they heard about the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, they decided to take matters into their own hands.
With the battle cry of “Let’s Roll,” they stormed the cockpit to retake control of the plane. The terrorists rolled the plane from right to left to throw them off balance. Planes flying over western Pennsylvania—and people on the ground—saw the plane flying erratically.
The passengers and crew members couldn’t regain control of the aircraft. However, they forced the terrorists to crash the plane near Stoystown, about 80 miles east of Pittsburgh and 20 minutes flying time from Washington DC.
In 2005, the Flight 93 Memorial was built on the crash site to commemorate the bravery and sacrifice of the passengers and crew members.
The Flight 93 Memorial
Seeing the Flight 93 Memorial is a sobering experience similar to visiting Pearl Harbor, the American Cemetery in Normandy, or Masada. You know you’re standing on hallowed ground where heroes showed extraordinary courage under extreme duress.
Our first stop was the Visitors Center. We followed the walkway that shows the path the plane took. At the end is an overlook where you can see the crash site. When we visited the exhibits inside, we learned how the passengers and crew members decided to take back control of the plane from the terrorists. It was especially heart-wrenching to listen to phone messages passengers and flight attendants left for friends and family they knew they would never see again.
When we arrived at Memorial Plaza, we walked along the quarter-mile northern boundary of the crash site to see the Wall of Names, which consists of 40 white marble stones—one for each passenger and crew member.
A boulder marks the location of the crash site, and the forest beyond is a final resting place for the heroes of Flight 93. The only people allowed in the woods are family members who want to pay their respects.
Our final stop was the Tower of Voices, a 93-foot bell tower that’s a living memorial to the passengers and crew of Flight 93. It consists of 40 individual windchimes that represent the voices of the passengers and crew members. The wind started blowing soon after we arrived, and we could hear them speaking to us from the grave.
Pro Tip: Save time to visit Patriot Park across from the Flight 93 Memorial. It honors millions of Americans who have served in the military and over 7000 brave men and women who have died fighting terrorism.
What Do Residents Remember?
September 11, 2001, is a day Somerset County residents will never forget. The day started like any other. Adults were at work, and children were in school. Many heard a loud noise and then saw a plane flying erratically. Others learned about Flight 93 when they heard about the other terrorist attacks on TV or while listening to the radio.
Rick King
Rick King, the Assistant Chief of the Shanksville Fire Company, worked at Ida’s Country Store in Shanksville. He was talking on the phone when he heard a deafening noise. After going outside to investigate, he saw a plane descending rapidly and then saw a column of smoke. He and the other firefighters rushed to the crash site to rescue survivors and provide first aid. They soon learned there was no one to rescue.
Robyn Blanset
Robyn Blanset and her father, Ray Stevens, were working on the roof of Blanset’s farmhouse near the Quemahoning Dam north of Stoystown. Her daughter was in her stroller and was playing with the family cat while she watched her mother and grandfather work. Blanset and her father weren’t aware of the attacks in New York and Washington, DC, because they hadn’t been listening to the radio or watching TV. So, they were alarmed when they saw a commercial aircraft flying at an unusually low altitude.
Katie Hostetler
Katie Hostetler is a Public Information Officer for the National Park Service and works at the Flight 93 Memorial. In September 2001, she was a junior at a high school about 10 miles from the crash site. In her art class, the teacher was using a TV program to demonstrate photography techniques. When she changed the channel, the class saw the report about the World Trade Center attacks on every station. The students were immediately concerned and asked if anything like this could happen in their town. The teacher replied, “No, of course not. This is rural Pennsylvania. Nothing like that would ever happen here.” The teacher and students soon realized how wrong she was. “Something like this” COULD happen here.
Chuck Wagner
Chuck Wagner, then the Director of Facilities at Camp Allegheny, was attending a certification workshop when he heard about the crash. The local Salvation Army supplied food to the work crews excavating the crash site, and he volunteered to deliver meals. He eventually became involved in the excavation because a friend worked for one of the companies doing the work.
The Flight 93 National Memorial was established in 2005. Before that, there was a temporary memorial on a nearby hill. Wagner and his wife Jayne were volunteer ambassadors, gave visitors tours of the site, and helped them find accommodations and restaurants in the area.
Pilots Plan Heroic Kamikaze Mission
Lt. Heather “Lucky” Penney was a fighter pilot with the District of Columbia Air National Guard (DCANG). At the time, she was a 1st lieutenant with the 121st Fighter Squadron, the only woman in her training class, and the only female pilot in the squadron.
When Cleveland air traffic controllers saw a potential hijacking aboard United Flight 93, Penney and her flight lead, Lt. Col. Marc “Sass” Sasseville, were sent on a “kamikaze” mission to intercept the plane.
They flew F-16 Fighting Falcons, which are ideal for air-to-air combat. However, there was no time to arm their planes with missiles or ammunition. Sasseville and Penney agreed that their only option was to use their aircraft to ram the plane. They decided Sasseville would hit the cockpit, and Penney would aim for the tail.
They could aim their fighters at the aircraft and eject quickly, but they knew the only sure way to bring down Flight 93 was to stay with their F-16s all the way through. So, they agreed a suicide mission was their only alternative. Can you imagine how they felt when they took off from Andrews Air Force Base, knowing they wouldn’t return?
Both returned because of the heroic actions of the passengers and crew aboard United Flight 93. The Flight 93 Memorial is a tribute to their bravery and salutes ordinary people who were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. As Penney said in a recent interview with Purdue University, “Certainly, Sass and I were willing to give our lives. Anybody would have been willing to do the same, and I can say that with certainty because the passengers and crew members on Flight 93 did.”
Visiting the Flight 93 Memorial
The Flight 93 Memorial is on the Lincoln Highway in Stoystown, Pennsylvania. If you’re traveling east on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, take exit 110 – Somerset and follow the signs. If you’re traveling west on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, take exit 146 – Bedford.
The grounds are open from sunrise to sunset, year-round, including all holidays, weather permitting. The Visitor Center is open daily from 9 AM to 5 PM and is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.
There is no admission fee for the Flight 93 National Memorial or the Visitor Center. All tours are self-guided, and visitors are encouraged to allow around three hours to visit all the exhibits.
Pro Tip: Forbes Trail Brewing, located a quarter of a mile from the Flight 93 Memorial, introduces a new beer each year and donates proceeds from sales to the Flight 93 National Memorial.
Parking is free at all three areas, and wheelchairs are available at the Visitor Center and the Memorial Plaza. No pets except service animals are allowed in the Visitor Center or Memorial Plaza. They are permitted on trails and in the parking areas but must be on a leash no longer than 6 feet.
I love your overview of this well-done memorial. Thanks for sharing your experience, Marni!
Very moving tribute