| September 11 - Pennsylvania Remembers | |
| Anniversary Commemorations in Pittsburgh, Shanksville and Western PA | |
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The small, sleepy town of Shanksville, Pennsylvania, is about as remote a place as you could find in the country to be a part of what happened on September 11, 2001. Yet Shanksville -- population 260, and located two miles from the crash site of United Flight 93 and about 80 miles from Pittsburgh -- is now forever a part of American history. The residents, many of whom actually felt the impact of the plane hitting the ground, have drawn together and vowed to make sure the world remembers the heroes who sacrificed their lives on Flight 93 to save our nation. A team of local volunteer "ambassadors," led by Donna Glessner take turns standing watch at the temporary memorial site, answering questions from the 1000+ people who come to visit the site each week. They have been doing this almost a year now, for no other purpose than to make sure people have accurate information - to make sure the story of Flight 93 and its heroes is preserved and remembered. More Shanksville area volunteerism comes in the form of Somerset County Historical Center members, headed up by curator, Barbara Black. The center has collected thousands of objects -- everything from original paintings to wedding rings -- which friends, family, and other visitors have left at the chain-link fence that serves as temporary memorial for Flight 93. They have spent hundreds of volunteer hours collecting, cataloging, and preserving these items for the day when there is finally a permanent memorial built on the site. "It's more than just a place where a plane went down," Black said. "It's about who we are as a nation, how we are perceived by other nations, what we need to do to get along with other nations. We should heal, but we should never forget." The small town of Shanksville, which has embraced all of America with open arms, is now planning a number of special memorial events to mark the one-year anniversary of September 11 and the crash of United Flight 93. Over 500 family and friends of the Flight 93 heroes are expected to be in attendance, along with local and national politicians and dignitaries. Other September 11 memorials, concerts, and services will be held throughout Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania. Most September 11 memorial events are open to the public. September 11 Anniversary Events
September 11, 2002 ~ 7:00AM
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