National Memorial Sought for 9/11 Pa. Crash Site

The rural Pennsylvania field where a hijacked jetliner crashed Sept. 11 would become the site of a national memorial under legislation proposed Friday by Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.).

Murtha, joined by Pennsylvania officials and Jennifer Price, whose mother and stepfather died on United Airlines Flight 93, said he will introduce a bill to declare the site hallowed ground and preserve it as a legacy to the innocent victims who perished there.

“The people on Flight 93 were courageous and heroic in giving their lives to bring down that airplane before it could reach its intended target in our nation’s capital,” Murtha said. “I think it’s quite clear that the crash site has national historical significance.”

Flight 93 crashed in western Pennsylvania about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. President Bush and federal authorities have heralded the plane’s passengers, who reportedly heard about the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon and took courageous action to keep the hijackers from flying the plane to Washington and crashing it into a national landmark.

All 40 passengers and crew members on board the San Francisco-bound flight perished, along with the four hijackers.

Officials have yet to decide what form the memorial will take. Under the proposed legislation, a 15-member commission, appointed by the secretary of the Interior, would oversee planning and design. The National Park Service would have the authority to buy or accept the land, now privately owned, and would be steward of the site after the memorial is completed.

While there has been much debate over the fate of the World Trade Center site, few have objected to the idea of a permanent memorial at the remote Flight 93 crash site. Local officials said the site has provided their area with a powerful link to the fight against terrorism.

The passengers’ “valor ignited the American spirit and showed that, in the course of human events, individuals can make a difference,” said Jim Marker, chairman of the Somerset County Board of Commissioners.

There is a temporary memorial at the site. Marker said the county had received countless calls supporting a permanent memorial recognizing the field as “the final resting place of patriots.”

Price, who lost her mother and stepfather, Jean and Donald Peterson, in the crash, said she had spoken with the families of most of the Flight 93 passengers and crew, and they all support the proposed memorial. Many of the victims’ families “believe this is the final resting place of our family members,” she said. “We want it to be a place of beauty.”

She said she felt fortunate that of all the places the plane could have come down, it did so in Somerset County.

“Because we were far away, we felt so distant, so unattached” immediately after the crash, she said. Addressing the local officials in attendance, she added, “We heard what you all did on those days after Sept. 11. I don’t know if we can ever say how much we thank you.”

Murtha said he hopes the legislation moves quickly through Congress. As yet, there is no timetable or cost estimate for the memorial, he said.

The owners of the land “have said from day one that they would do whatever we need to,” Marker said. “They’ve opened their property and opened their hearts.”

Susan Hankinson, the Somerset County Flight 93 coordinator, said officials already have raised nearly $1 million from private and corporate donors to build the memorial. That amount would be supplemented by federal money, Murtha said.

The temporary memorial at the site already receives significant traffic, and officials expect many visitors this summer, Hankinson said. A Web site about the memorial and planning process will be launched Monday, she said. The address is https://www.flt93memorial.org.

A service will be held Monday at Shanksville United Methodist Church, not far from the crash site, in remembrance of those who died six months ago, Hankinson said.

“The terrorists didn’t believe this country would stand up and fight,” Murtha said. “The passengers on Flight 93 redefined the war on terrorism.”