SHANKSVILLE, Pa. — The country is reflecting on this somber day 20 years ago.
Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives in terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington and Pennsylvania.
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In Shanksville, family and friends of the heroes of Flight 93 gathered to remember their loved ones.
The Flight 93 National Memorial was closed this morning, as friends and family members gathered to remember their loved ones who fought back and changed the course of history.
A bell echoed across this field in Shanksville on a brilliant September day much like 20 years ago.
Family members read the names of the 40 passengers and crew, and Vice President Kamala Harris offered her gratitude.
“We gather in this field that has been sanctified by sacrifice.”
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On the morning of Sept. 11, the passengers and crew of Flight 93 took matters into their own hands and fought back against the hijackers, forcing them to crash and preventing the plane from hitting the Capitol.
“Many who are now alive today owe a vast, unconscious debt to the defiance displayed in the skies above this field.”
In the 20 years since the terrorist attacks, former president George W. Bush expressed concern about growing division, and called for the return to civility and unity he saw after 9/11.
“I saw milions of people instinctively grab for a neighbor’s hand and rally to the cause of one another. That is the America I know.”
Gordon Felt’s brother was on Flight 93. He urged people never to forget what the passengers and crew did.
“Having lost a brother on Sept. 11, I too live with the grief that is deep, consuming and always present,” explained Felt. “Have we become desensitized to what really happened that fateful morning? Have we diminished the courageous actions of these brave men and women? These heroes we honor today,”
After the ceremony, friends and family members walked to the crash site for a private prayer service. The head of the National Memorial reflected upon the years that have passed.
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“As the years go by, the passage of time will only strengthen the importance of their story in this place in the history of our nation,” explained superintendent Stephen Clark.
On this exact day next year, and for years to come, many of the same people gathered here will return to remember the heroes of Flight 93 who sacrificed their lives, and in the process, saved countless others.
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