Flight 93 Temporary Memorial
Shanksville, Pennsylvania

 


The temporary memorial is located on Skyline Road, between Lambertsville Road and Buckstown Road, just north of the field where Flight 93 crashed on Sept. 11, 2001. To find the site, look for the Flight 93 sign on U.S. Route 30 in Buckstown, Pennsylvania, about 3 hours (by car) west of Washington, D.C. The memorial is currently operated by volunteers but will be taken over by the National Park Service in 2006 or 2007. The volunteer on duty the day we visited was Mr. Nevin Lambert, an eyewitness to the crash. This memorial replaces a makeshift memorial on Lambertsville Road that we visited in September 2001.

 

¬ This crane is operated by the strip mining company that owns the land surrounding the memorial. Visitors have written hundreds of comments in marker and have covered the metal guard rails in the parking lot with bumper stickers and slogans.

 

 



¬ The crash site lies approximately 500 yards to the south, across a field that is open only to victims’ relatives. In front of the row of trees, you can barely make out an American flag mounted on the fence surrounding the original crater. The crater has been filled in and planted with grass.







¬ Enlarged detail from previous image, showing American flag. Sign in foreground at left says, “RESTRICTED AREA.”

 

 

¬ Slate angels memorialize the passengers and crew members. Little mention is made of the four hijackers, but they were victims of the same twisted, radical ideology that claimed the other 40. Surely it is a great tragedy to die while filled with hatred, even if one sincerely believes he is doing God’s work.

Let us pray that in the future, the people of earth somehow find a way to live together in peace.

 

 




¬ The wall of remembrance includes dozens of caps, license plates, crosses, articles of clothing, knickknacks, signs, flags, and though it hardly seems appropriate, a Geocache. Items are periodically removed and stored, awaiting display in the permanent memorial to be built in a few years.

 

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Last updated: 17 Aug 2004