9-11, TEN YEARS LATER
President Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama shake hands and speak with visitors to the Flight 93 National Memorial Sunday morning. The president and first lady visited the national memorial on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. (Photo by Roberto M. Esquivel)
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett speaks on the heroism of the passengers of Flight 93 on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. (Photo by Robert M. Esquivel)
A member of the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department color guard bows his head moments before the start of the 9/11 ceremony at the Flight 93 National Memorial. (Photo by Roberto M. Esquivel)
SHANKSVILLE — The president, along with state and federal officials and others, gathered Sunday to celebrate the lives of 40 ordinary people that on a clear September morning a decade ago banded together to undertake an extraordinary act of courage.
?President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama laid a wreath at the marble wall of names and walked to the common headstone of the Flight 93 victims after arriving from the New York 9/11 ceremonies.
“I got a picture,” a young girl told her mother as the Obamas shook hands with those standing nearby.
The presidential visit followed the local 9/11 ceremony to honor the Flight 93 victims.
The service was marked with the tolling of bells after each of the 40 names were read and tears as they were remembered.
Elizabeth Wainio was an up and coming executive for the Discovery Channel stores when she boarded United Airlines Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001.
Her trip from New Jersey to San Francisco was to formulate plans for the upcoming holiday season, said John Hendricks, Discovery Communications founder and chairman.
“Bright, energetic and cheerful, Liz was obviously in love with life and all those around her,” said Hendricks. “Like her fellow passengers, Liz represented the best of humanity.”
Hendricks, along with Gov. Tom Corbett, former Gov. Tom Ridge, U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Hollidaysburg and U.S. Rep. Mark Critz, D-Johnstown, took part in the morning ceremonies to pay tribute to the 40 men and women that now are at rest at the Flight 93 National Memorial.
“Over the past 10 years we have heard this place compared to many other places,” said Corbett. “We look to the past for comparisons trying to fully grasp what this hillside means.
“The truth is, this place is like no other because the deeds aboard Flight 93 are like no other.”
The passengers and crew set new standards for bravery, he added.
“They did not choose to go into battle when they boarded that jetliner,” he said. “They decided to shorten the minutes of their own lives to defend their nation, to defend their fellow citizens.”
Shuster said that the actions of the passengers and crew and their families continue to “inspire” him as he serves in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“You are the courage and strength that helps me,” he said.
Critz, who was overwhelmed with emotion as he recalled the heroism of the 40 victims, said that he would “never forget” their sacrifice.
“The courage that your family members showed will inspire generations to come,” he told the hundreds of family and friends sitting in the audience. “The courage you have shown to make sure we continue on this march to build this memorial to them, to never forget what happened 10 years ago is a testament to who they were.
“I applaud your courage in showing us the way.”
Wally Miller, Somerset County coroner, wiped tears from his eyes as he shared the poem, “We Remember Them.”
“So long as we live, they too shall live, for they are a part of us,” said Miller. “We remember them.”
Ridge, too, paused as he recalled the selflessness shown by those being remembered.
“We still grieve. It is still hard to speak of you without tears,” he said. “Had we been in your place, could we have shown the same resolve; the same selflessness; the same astonishing valor as you?”
Ridge said that the acts of bravery signaled to the world that Americans do not live in fear, but in freedom.
“We pledge that future generations will know your names and of your remarkable story,” he said.
Also taking part in the ceremony was Gordon Felt, Families of Flight 93 president, the Johnstown Symphony String Quartet, Keith Newlin, Flight 93 National Memorial superintendent, Shanksville VFD, Father Steven McKeown, FBI chaplain, the Rev. Paul Britton, the Rev. Robert Way and the Johnstown Symphony Children’s Choir.