The minute I knew we were going to
Pennsylvania for our anniversary trip, I told Ryan I knew I wanted to visit the
9/11 Memorial for Flight 93
near Shanksville. If you’ve been reading here for a while, you know that 9/11
is the first major event I remember from my adulthood, and each year I set
aside the day on 9/11 to watch all the documentaries and sit with the stories
of those who lost their lives that day. It is important to me to visit each
memorial eventually, and this is the first of those stops for us.
It
snowed overnight – and guess who left their snow scraper in Indiana? The Shaffers.
Ryan used a hotel towel to clean off the car so we could pack up. We had breakfast
at the hotel and headed out for the Memorial so we could arrive right around the
time it opened.
The
memorial is free to visit, and we weren’t sure how busy it would be on a
holiday weekend. Well, it turns out when you show up as it opens – on a frigid,
frigid day – it’s pretty empty! We were there about three hours, and by the
time we left, there were more people there, but it was certainly not busy by
any means. I appreciated that. I wanted to take my time and pay my respects. (Note:
The Visitor’s Center is open daily from 9-5, except for Thanksgiving,
Christmas, and New Year’s Day. The grounds as a whole are open sunrise to
sunset every day of the year.)
The
Visitor’s Center has a gift shop, and it includes several books written by
family members of people on Flight 93 and about the investigation of this
particular piece of 9/11. There is also a really beautiful, moving, and
well-done tribute to 9/11 and this flight. There were no pictures allowed in
that section, although the one other lady in there with us seemed to have
missed that memo and took pictures (with her phone volume on…kerchunk, kerchunk,
kerchunk) at every single station. Sigh.
We
bundled up as fully as we could (and still be mobile) to walk the outdoor
trails. The website says the trails are closed in the winter, and they were
certainly slick the day we walked them, but no one stopped us from venturing
forth.
We
started on the Allee trail, which is 1.2 miles and makes a wide circle around
the flight path. Because this trail was out in an open field with no
protection, it was frigid out there. We kept a pretty good pace just to try to
stay warm, but the whole time we walked, I thought about all the things I’ve
seen on the documentaries and tried to imagine the heroism and terror that
filled those final seconds of these people’s lives. I could not wrap my mind
around it. Also, as I looked around and thought about the little burgs we’d
just driven through, I was amazed that the plane didn’t strike any homes or
people on the ground.
Quick
note: There is also a driving road that parallels this walking trail, so if you
are there in bad weather or simply don’t wish to walk this distance, you can
drive from the Visitor’s Center to the next section of the memorial.
When
we made it to the other side of the Allee Trail, we found the Trail of
Remembrance. It’s a ½ mile (one way) trail that leads to the site of the
original temporary memorial. We walked it (a mile out and back) but weren’t
able to read any of the signs on the trail because they were covered in snow
and ice.
The
next stop was the Memorial Plaza, where we were able to duck into a shelter to
warm up (aka feel our hands again. They had some informational signs that were
similar to ones in the Visitor’s Center, but pictures weren’t prohibited
outside.
I
took some pictures of the wreath laying area, and there were a few wreaths
present.
Then
we walked toward the Walk of Names. To our left was a half-wall, which provides
a barrier to the impact zone and trees that mark the official final resting
place for all those aboard Flight 93. Only family members of the victims are
permitted past that wall. There is a boulder out in the field that marks the
impact zone.
They
have a Wall of Names with panels for each victim of the crash. I took pictures
of a few of the names – the ones whose stories I felt I knew the best. Some
panels had little snow-covered gifts left at the bases.
I
touched each panel and read each name out loud as I walked.
There
is also a gate that looks out into the field. The gate is made of hemlock wood –
symbolic of the trees at the edge of the impact zone.
Our
final trail was almost a mile long and took us back up to the Visitor’s Center.
All in all, we walked over 3 miles of trails that day. It was cold, it was windy,
and nothing about it was ideal. But it was important to me to walk the steps
and remember the lives of the people for whom this space was a terrifying and
tragic day. It was as moving experience as I imagined it might be, and I was so
thankful we had a nearly private viewing of this place.
We
went out on the overlook ledge before we left, but the wind up there was piercing
and brutal by that time, so we didn’t stay long.
Our last stop before leaving the park was the Tower of Voices. It sits at the entrance
to the park and is a 93-foot-tall windchime tower with 40 chimes – one for each
passenger and crew member. We read on a sign that winds have to be 12-15 miles
an hour to activate the chimes, and they were activated this day! We didn’t stay
long, but we appreciated this piece!
You
can take a virtual tour of this memorial here by
watching the series of videos, but we heavily encourage you to visit in person
if you can. I would allow no less than three hours. On a warmer day, when it's possible to peruse the outside parts more, I'd say at least four hours would be a good minimum. The beauty and intentionality of this place is solemn and meaningful.
(Maybe pick a warmer day.)
