Flight 93

Back when we owned the local newspaper, the editor and I agreed we'd devote however much space was required to recognize the names of every victim from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.  Each Sunday evening for a number of weeks, I would compile the ever-growing list of names, noting military or police or fire service, and where their death occurred.
Typing those thousands of name was never easy and it was a task I truly dreaded, but I felt obligated to let the world, or at least as many folks as read The Countywide, know about these unfortunate victims.  The banner on the page(s) was "We Will Not Forget."
I remember the wide variety of ethnic names and was often struck by the melting pot that is America.  And by the likelihood that the Islamic extremists had no doubt killed many Muslims.  I certainly felt sorrow over time, but I don't think my anger has ever fully subsided.
Have we forgotten?  I know one brave young man that made up his mind to attend West Point after the attacks.  I heard the talking heads that said we deserved it.  I cheered unabashedly when Bin Laden was killed.
We visited the field outside Lambertsville when the Flight 93 Memorial now stands.  It is a somber place.  They have planted groves of trees in groups of 40 across the hillsides.  The National Park Service intends to let the fields grow with natural vegetation and wildflowers, to heal naturally if you will.
The crater was surprisingly small to me, considering an airliner traveling upside-down at 563 mph slammed into it.  Remains of every passenger and crew aboard were recovered and identified, a privilege many victims in the Towers did not receive.  The local coroner requested that the remains be re-interred at the site, so it is now a national cemetery, fitting for the heroics that saved God knows how many lives at the remaining target.

 

 

 One more time, because they certainly deserve it:

Captain, Jason M. Dahl
First officer, Leroy Homer
Flight crew, Lorraine G. Bay, Sandy Waugh Bradshaw, Wanda Anita Green, Ceecee Ross Lyles, Deborah Jacobs Welsh.
Passengers:
Christian Adams
Todd M. Beamer
Alan Anthony Beaven
Mark Bingham
Deora Frances Bodley
Marion R. Britton
Thomas E. Burnett, Jr.
William Joseph Cashman
Georgine Rose Corrigan
Patricia Cushing
Joseph Deluca
Patrick Joseph Driscoll
Edward Porter Felt
Jane C. Folger
Colleen L. Fraser
Andrew (Sonny) Garcia
Jeremy Logan Glick
Kristin Osterholm White Gould
Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas and unborn child
Donald Freeman Greene
Linda Gronlund
Richard J. Guadagno
Toshiya Kuge
Hilda Marcin
Waleska Martinez
Nicole Carol Miller
Louis J. Nacke II
Donald Arthur Peterson
Jean Hoadley Peterson
Mark David Rothernberg
Christine Ann Snyder
John Talignani
Honor Elizabeth Wainio