The Courage of Flight 93 Heroes Are Immortalized at This 9/11 Memorial Forest in Pennsylvania

Flight 93 National Memorial, Pennsylvania

On a clear September morning in 2001, forty brave souls changed the course of history in a Pennsylvania field. What started as another hijacked plane became an act of pure courage.

Here’s what happened in that field and how the memorial and forest in their honor came to be.

Flight 93 National Memorial

In rural Pennsylvania stands a tribute to 40 individuals who changed the course of history on September 11, 2001. Flight 93 National Memorial preserves the story of ordinary people who made an extraordinary choice.

The memorial spreads across 2,200 acres of former strip mine land in Somerset County, near Shanksville. President George W. Bush established it on September 24, 2002, through the Flight 93 National Memorial Act.

When Flight 93 Became A Weapon

Flight 93 left Newark on September 11, 2001, with only 37 passengers and 7 crew aboard a Boeing 757-222 built for 182 people. Terrorist pilot Ziad Jarrah waited 46 minutes after takeoff, then took control and pointed the plane toward Washington, D.C.

Meanwhile, passengers and crew made at least 13 phone calls. Through these calls, they learned about the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon happening that same morning.

Passengers Who Refused To Give Up

Once passengers realized their plane was meant to kill others, they voted to fight back. Todd Beamer said “Let’s roll” before leading the charge toward the cockpit.

Jeremy Glick, a judo champion, and Mark Bingham, a rugby player, joined the fight. Their revolt began at 9:57 a.m. and lasted 29 minutes.

The plane hit the ground upside down at 563 miles per hour, crashing at 10:03 a.m. before reaching its target.

The Birth of a National Memorial

People immediately started leaving flags and flowers at the crash site. Congress responded quickly by passing the Flight 93 National Memorial Act in 2002. This law created an Advisory Commission that included families of those who died.

The same year, officials added the crash site to the National Register of Historic Places. This protected the site and recognized its importance in American history for future generations.

The World Competes To Design The Memorial

A worldwide design contest decided how the memorial would look. The Heinz Foundations and John S. and James L. Knight Foundation paid for the competition.

Family members, design experts, and local leaders judged entries from around the globe. Paul Murdoch Architects and Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects won with their “Crescent of Embrace” design.

After complaints about the crescent shape, they changed the plan while keeping their main vision.

A Marble Wall Bears Their Names

The Memorial Plaza runs one-quarter mile along the crash site. Forty white marble panels form the Wall of Names, each carved with one hero’s name.

The wall sits directly under Flight 93’s flight path, lined up with the plane’s final direction. Near the damaged hemlock trees, a 17.5-ton sandstone boulder marks the impact site.

A Tower That Sings In The Wind

The 93-foot Tower of Voices holds 40 wind chimes, each tuned to make a different sound. The aluminum chimes range from 5 to 10 feet long, with bigger ones making deeper tones.

Workers used 274 short tons of concrete and steel to build it. When winds reach 12 to 15 miles per hour, the chimes ring out.

Learning About The Heroes Inside

The 6,800-square-foot Visitor Center sits on a ridge overlooking the crash site. Built with concrete, steel, and glass, it blends into the landscape while offering clear views.

Inside, displays explain September 11 and show how Flight 93 fit into the day’s attacks. Visitors can hear real voice messages that passengers left from the plane.

The building lines up perfectly with the flight path, connecting visitors to that morning’s events.

Forty Groves For Forty Heroes

Since 2012, over 4,000 volunteers have planted more than 136,000 native trees across 197 acres. Forty separate groves honor each passenger and crew member.

These Pennsylvania trees include red maple, white oak, and sugar maple, chosen for their bright fall colors. The yearly planting helps heal land damaged by old coal mining.

Where A Strip Mine Became Sacred

The Field of Honor covers the main area with wildflowers and grasses that bloom from spring through fall. Designers used the land’s natural bowl shape to create a peaceful place for reflection.

Engineers built a water system underneath to restore the land after years of mining damage. The National Park Foundation raised over $40 million to build the Field of Honor and other memorial features.

The Crash Site Remains Protected

FBI teams found both flight recorders, with the voice recorder buried over 25 feet deep. Investigators spent 13 days carefully searching the area to understand Flight 93’s final minutes.

On June 21, 2018, officials buried the last wreckage pieces in a private ceremony with families and first responders. Before burial, experts checked everything one final time for any missed personal items or remains.

Visiting Flight 93 National Memorial

Flight 93 National Memorial welcomes visitors at 6424 Lincoln Highway in Stoystown, Pennsylvania, about 78 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

Two walking paths link the memorial’s features: the 2.4-mile Allée trail crosses through the Memorial Groves and over wetlands via a bridge, while the shorter 0.7-mile Western Overlook Trail offers a quicker route between the Learning Center and the Wall of Names.

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