Trip Report: Flight 93 National Memorial

We left the Johnstown Flood National Memorial and headed to Ohiopyle State Park. On the way, we stopped at the Flight 93 National Memorial, which was built to honor the heroes who challenged terrorists on September 11, 2001 and thwarted their plan. In doing so, they sacrificed their own lives to save those of countless others. I’ve driven past the sign for this memorial on the PA Turnpike countless times, and was so glad we finally stopped to see it. I highly recommend this site; it’s definitely worth a visit.

We started at the Visitor’s Center, where we got the passports stamped and picked up the Junior Ranger activity books and pencils. The ranger down at the Memorial Plaza had the badges, so the kids worked on their booklets while we took turns looking through the museum in the Visitor’s Center. One of the things that the book emphasizes is how quickly the people on board the plane had to decide what to do and to act. From the time the plane was hijacked until they realized what was happening was twenty minutes. They deliberated and planned for nine minutes, and after they decided to act, it was only six minutes until the plane crashed. There were only 35 minutes total. If you put that in the context of a show your kids watch, they will understand the significance.

It was crowded when we were there, probably because it was Memorial Day, and a day for honoring our nations heroes. There was a large group of veterans, traveling together, who were right in front of us and thus featured in some of these photos. The design of the memorial is well thought out. As you walk toward the Visitor Center from the parking lot, the sidewalk actually mimics the flight path and looks kind of like a runway.

We walked past the Visitor Center at first, going to the overlook, which is actually called the “Flight Path Overlook.”

Everywhere you look are the recurring numbers of 93 (the flight number) and 40 (the number of crew members and passengers).

We then went into the Visitor Center, where there is a small museum.

After the museum, we headed down to Memorial Plaza. Vagish walked the .7 mile trail from the Visitor Center to Memorial Plaza.

Alternatively, you could take the one-mile path that runs parallel to the Ring Road that goes to Memorial Plaza the other direction, and then you would pass through the forty groves of forty trees each, planted in memory and tribute for the forty passengers and crew. While beautiful now, at the end of May, this must be stunning in the fall when the leaves change color. The kids and I finished up the Junior Ranger activity books and then drove the road down to the Plaza. The ranger who could check their books and award badges was down there and not at the Visitor Center.

When you reach Memorial Plaza, there is a whole collection of benches and a designated wreath laying area as well as a Visitor Shelter where they keep brochures.

There was actually a program going on at the Plaza when we arrived, with attendees sitting on the benches listening to the ranger talk. This meant that we had to wait for the ranger to finish the program and talk to all the people who approached him afterwards before we could have him check the Junior Ranger books. This normally would be fine, but our five-year-old had reached the cranky stage of needing a nap and was not very patient or cooperative. He did manage to get through it, and then we carried him back to the car where he promptly fell asleep with his Junior Ranger badge.

There is an audio tour for this park that you can access by calling 814-619-2065. The stop talking about the FBI investigation is 205, but there are others as well. You are supposed to begin at number 93, naturally. The brochure about the cell phone tour includes color photographs of the crew and passengers and there is an audio channel for each of them. The numbers for those go from 801 to 840 if you want to listen and learn about their lives.

Of the four planes that crashed on September 11, 2001, this one yielded the most information the most quickly. Instead of crashing into a building and mixing the debris and human remains of the plane with those of the building and its contents and the people on the ground, this plane crashed into an empty field near a grove of trees. They actually found not only the black box of the plane, but one of the signs at Memorial Plaza tells us, “Enough remains are recovered to positively identify everyone on board the plane. Evidence recovered includes knives, passports belonging to the terrorists, and handwritten documents in Arabic describing the terrorists’ plans for the attack.” The field investigation only lasted about three weeks, ending on September 24, 2001.

From the parking lot, where there are bathrooms, you can go one direction to the Memorial Plaza. If you walk the other way, you are on the path that runs parallel to the road and heads through the Memorial Groves and back to the Visitor Center.

In between the two, and going straight up the hill, you find the half-mile long Trail of Remembrance.

The sign tells us that this used to be Skyline Road and leads to the site where the community gathered and built a temporary memorial in the days following the crash.

We ended our visit at the Tower of Voices, which is a 93 foot tall concrete and aluminum musical instrument whose chimes are set in motion by the wind. It is worth making the trip to Shanksville, PA for all by itself. It's stunningly beautiful on its own, and we were lucky to be there on a gorgeous, cloudless day.

The Flight 93 National Memorial is definitely worth a visit, and not just if you happen to be driving by. It’s a destination and an important part of history as well as a beautiful place and tribute.