Flight 93 Memorial

I was in Pennsylvania for a photo-shoot at an 1860s era wool mill and decided to stay over one more day so I could visit the memorial to Flight 93 in Shanksville.

I was at work on Capitol Hill on 9-11-2001. I saw the reports on the first plane hitting the Twin Towers in New York and was watching, live, when the second plane hit.

My staff and I evacuated our building and were on the street when the third plane hit the Pentagon.

We heard the explosion, saw the smoke.

Rumors flew. The Old Executive Office Building had been hit. The bridges out of the city were closed. There were other planes, flying bombs, in coming.

The streets were gridlocked, horns blaring, sirens. People on foot had strange, dazed looks to their faces.

About 20 or so of us took shelter in the apartment of a Congressman. He had no television and barely any furniture. We sat on the floor and listened to the radio. Mostly silent, in shock.

News reports broadcast that Flight 93 crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.

Later, we found out the passengers...learning of the other crashed planes...decided to try and take back the plane...to save themselves, to save others.

On September 11, 2001 United Flight 93 was only 20 minutes flight time from the nation's capital when the passengers and crew of the plane rushed the cockpit in an effort to overpower the hijackers. Flight 93 crashed in a field outside the town of Shanksville in rural southwestern Pennsylvania.

I knew I had to see the ground they had made their own.

Flag, Flight 93 Memorial Plaza

I visited on a cold and bitter day in late March, the wind was knife-cold, winter lingered. The memorial is in a large area of open fields, the peacefulness of fields in direct contrast to the horror of what happened here.

I knew this would be an emotional visit, but I was unprepared for the intensity of the overwhelming sorrow I felt upon viewing that single boulder marking the point of impact.

Point of Impact

I will be forever grateful to the passengers and crew of Flight 93, for their courage, for their compassion, for their willingness to take a risk to save themselves, to save others.

#NeverForget





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Throwback Thursday - 9-11-2001

9.11.2001

13 years later and the memory of that day is fresh. Remembering 9-11 floods me with a wash of emotions as real as the emotions I felt that day. Some have said "don't wallow,' others have repeated therapist's advice to tell and re-tell the events so that the emotions are no longer attached. I do neither of those things...I live my life and every once in a while, a sound, a picture, or a date brings back the day with clarity.

I was in my office on Capitol Hill. We had the television turned to the national news, a report was being broadcast about a plane hitting a skyscraper in New York city. We watched, live, as the second plane hit. I called my boss, we were told to evacuate...in those pre-9-11 days there were no plans for what to do if we were attacked, no evacuation drills. On the street hundreds were exiting the buildings, some walking, others trying to get to their cars. It was the days before everyone had a cell phone, those who did have cell phones were unable to get a signal.

Outside, we heard the explosion as, what we now know was a third plane, hit the Pentagon. We saw the smoke. Heard the sirens. A police officer told us to get away from the Capitol. There were still unaccounted for planes. The Capitol was a target. Someone else said they'd heard the bridges out of DC were closed. Others said they'd heard the Old Executive Office Building, next to the White House, had been hit.

The skies were eerily silent and the streets were loud with the sound of sirens and cars packed into traffic jams. People were silent, their faces stony with stunned looks.

Quite a few of us ended up huddled on the floor of a Congressman's apartment. He had only one chair and no television. We listened to the radio for news and were reminded of Pearl Harbor. None of us could reach our families through cell phones. The Congressman had a land line telephone, so he called his staff in a distant state, gave them the contact information for all our families and had his staff call our families to tell them we were safe.

We learned of the downed plane in Pennsylvania. We wept for all those lost.




Sometime after 5:00pm the streets were clear enough for us to head home. Washington, DC was silent, hushed. I got my car and drove people out of the city, to their homes, to train stations. We drove past the smoking Pentagon with it's blackened void.

9.11.2001 I will never ever forget. A world shattered and the pieces still falling back into place.








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