Flight 93 National Memorial

It was a cold, snow/rain/sleet mix in the late afternoon when I got to the memorial. The weather helped make it more poignant than it already is. Very simple, very eloquent, very moving. You turn off of Route 30 (an adventure to drive in its own right) and take a winding road to the memorial site. It’s a work in progress. From the parking lot you walk a short ways to a plaza area where trees are planted and a series of sign boards show the now iconic photo of the cloud sent up by the crash, against the bright blue sky and behind the red barn and green hillside in the foreground. Other panels show recovery work, and one has a photo of each person on the flight. There is a small shelter where you can pick up information, write a message and post on a bulletin board wall, and talk to the ranger. From that you step out onto a black (probably) granite walkway with a low wall along it. Flowers (plastic) lie in several niches in the wall. Several hundred yards along this you are even with a large rock in the field to your left, with American flags fluttering around the base of it. This is the impact site; those on the plane lie under the rock. Further along, the walkway ends at a wall of white marble slabs, one for each person on Flight 93. Flowers are on the ground in front of some. An opening in this wall is chained off, the sign says ‘Families of Flight 93 ONLY” – we can hope that everyone honors this. The path beyond leads to the site, where families may go to grieve, to visit, to pay respects. The rest of us may do so from the wall, looking through a wooden gate at the end of it, or at any point along the walk. The marble wall lies on the final flight path of the plane. A visitor’s center is planned, along the same path, on a hill overlooking the site. Future plans also include a chime tower at the entrance, and no doubt work on the grounds, which cover many acres.
The day I was there, cars from several states were in the parking lot, with a couple of dozen people viewing it – hurrying through the weather, but stopping to look at the wall, to touch it, and then to stare at the rock and flags. It is a sobering reflection on a sad day for our country, but also a day which brought out the courage and resolve that Americans have.
I want to go back and spend more time remembering and thinking about those.