Today, we are traveling from Grove City, PA to Stoystown to visit the Flight 93 National Memorial. I can't say that it was a joyful trip, knowing what we were going to see and relive again via replaying of news footage and displays of what was found at the crash sight.

The I-79S freeway took us through Pittsburgh, which neither of us had ever visited. As we came over the rise, the city lay before us. We timed our transit through Pittsburgh at the right time! There were traffic jams all along our route. Well, it gave us time to see the Pirates' stadium and the stadium where the Steelers play and the arena where the Penguins play.



As we headed out into the Pennsylvania countryside, we went from suburbs along the Ohio River to rich farmland, pastures and forests of hardwood trees. That is until we came upon the strangest sight that you would never expect in such pastoral scenery ~ a junkyard that covered tens of acres! Weird, huh?



I have to confess that knowing what we were about to see, I had a sense of dread. Soon we came to the entrance of the Flight 93 National Memorial. From the initial sign at the start of the side road that goes out to the memorial, it is a mile drive to the visitors center where the story is recounted ~ starting with the events that occurred in New York City beginning at 8:46 when American Airlines #11 hit the north tower of the World Trade Center. But I'm getting ahead in what we saw and experienced. A mile beyond the visitors center is the Flight 93 Memorial Plaza where we got up close to the crash site.



As we approached the visitors center, the walkway had 3 dark grey granite plaques inlaid ~ one for each of the three planes that crashed in advance of Flight 93. At the end of the walkway is a balcony that overlooks the crash site and the Flight 93 Memorial Plaza. Below is a picture of the guide to how the Plaza is laid out.



As we walked into the Visitors Center, there was a gift shop and the Park Rangers desk. After checking in and obtaining a map of the Memorial, we set out to see the displays. The first three displays contained information about the first three plane crashes in New York City and Washington D.C. Next were displays of warnings that were issued moments before the terrorists hijacked the plane ~ they came too late. The pilot was able to get one "Mayday" call out before being stormed by the terrorists and killed. There were only 44 people onboard the flight ~ 33 passengers, 7 crew and the 4 hijackers. There is a seating chart of where everyone was sitting when the plane took off from Newark International Airport.




While these displays were not situated immediately next to each other, their sequence here basically tells the story of the struggle and the resulting crash.



Next came displays of the first responders, the subsequent investigation and the outpouring sorrow of the nation. I'll let them speak for themselves. Be sure to click on the video which was taken from a helicopter flying over the crash sight ~ unbelievable!



Leaving the Visitors Center, we drove out to the Memorial Plaza. Although there are no "displays", just being near the crash site was very sobering. The walk from the Visitors Shelter to the main area is about 1/4 mile. Out at the end of the walk is the "Wall of Names" which consists of 40 marble slabs, standing upright with a passenger or crew names inscribed on it. The wall helps form a slight arc showing the path of the plane in its last few second before it slammed into the field. The crash left a crater 30 feet deep, which can be seen on the video taken from the helicopter. As we walked back to our truck and trailer, looking to the south of the crash site, we could see a farm house. What a terrible shock that must have been to the residents on that fateful morning.





Leaving the Memorial, we drove about 20 miles to our campground, Hickory Hollow Campground. We set up our trailer for the night and prepared dinner and to settle down for the night.