Nature had changed her choir from frogs to birds upon awakening yesterday (Thursday) morning. I had a good night sleep except for occasional disturbances by a white ghost floating around the RV turning gadgets on and off including lights. The white ghost hadn’t slept so well. We enjoyed coffee (or tea) and a peaceful breakfast at our dinette with a nice view before departing.
 |
A kitchen with a view. |
Jane has always wanted to visit the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, PA, so we decided to do it en route to our next camp site. It was a little over an hour’s drive again through scenic MD & PA byways.
United Airlines flight 93 was scheduled to travel from Newark to San Francisco on 9/11/01. Onboard were 7 flight crew members, 33 passengers and 4 al-Qaeda terrorists. After take-off, the terrorists took over the cockpit and forced the flight attendants and passengers to the back of the plane. They rerouted the plane toward Washington, DC, targeting the Capitol or White House. Using phones in seat-backs, the captives called officials and loved ones and learned of the other hijackings. They voted to storm the cockpit and did so. The terrorists realized that their plan was foiled and deliberately crashed the plane which landed upside down in a reclaimed coal mine field near Shanksville.
 |
MAYDAY! American under Attack. |
The Flight 93 National Memorial is a respectful and accurate tribute to these spontaneous heroes. There are indoor displays chronologically recounting the tragic event. Listening to recorded messages that passengers left their loved ones before the crash is especially poignant. All the structures on the site are oriented to track the flight path.
 |
Impression of the crater left by the crash of the inverted Boeing 757. |
A memorial wall with the names of the 40 passengers and flight crew members of Flight 93 and the visitor center are aligned along the flight path. A sandstone marker at the end of the flight path marks the filled-in crash site.
As most folks, I remember where I was when I first heard about the 9-11 attacks. I had gone to work early to finish a presentation for Christmas tree growers in New Hampshire and was scheduled to fly out of RDU in the afternoon. I never made that presentation.
I’m grateful to the passengers of Flight 93 and that they heroically gave their lives to prevent additional devastation and sorrow to our country.
After taking in the memorial, we had a rather somber lunch in our RV in the parking lot then headed out. Jane drove the rest of the day (3.5 hrs) to our campground at Lantz Corners about 9 miles from her hometown of Kane. She provided us with a few exciting incidents.
We ate dinner at a nearby cafe, The Barrel House, then headed into Kane to visit Jane’s mother and her sister Stephanie, as well as her brother and family, Dan, Lisa, Levi and Hannah. Sitting on a deck we all watched the international space station travel a six-minute arc in the evening sky then Jane and I headed back to the camp site.
Nice history lesson. I was teaching outside and came in to get my next class. My principal called me into his office and I watched some of the news on his small TV. After that I taught all of my classes inside as a safety precaution. It was a very somber day. Glad your trip is going well and you get to visit with Jane’s family.