Connellsville residents attend Shanksville ceremony
SHANKSVILLE — Connellsville officials, residents and young people joined with thousands of others Sunday to honor the heroes of United Airlines Flight 93.
“It was a very solemn ceremony,” said Kelsey Conn, a Connellsville Area High School senior and member of the CAHS Patriots. “The reading of names really affected me.”
Conn was in second grade at Zachariah Elementary School on 9/11 and recalls the immediate departure of her classmates as the news spread through the community.
“No one would tell us what happened,” she said.
Sara Iaquinta, also a senior and member of the organization was sitting in a second grade classroom at Conn Area Catholic School when she first learned that “something” had taken place in New York.
“At first I thought because it was a Tuesday, the New York Giants must have lost the Monday night football game,” she said.
The knowledge that an airplane had crashed still did not cause her alarm and it was not until much later did she come to realize the consequences of 9/11 or the sacrifices of those aboard the doomed airliner.
Both students praised the Flight 93 passengers and crew for their courageous acts when faced with the knowledge that their airplane was also on a course to destroy another Washington, D.C. government building.
“As Americans they came together to shut the airplane down,” said Iaquinta. “It was a very selfless and brave act.”
Connellsville Mayor Charles Matthews was employed by the school district as its security director on 9/11 and remembers learning that a single airplane was still in the skies over Pennsylvania after terrorist piloted airliners had already crashed into the World Trade Center twin towers and the Pentagon.
“One of the reports indicated (Flight 93) was in the area of the Springfield Township and C.N. Pritts elementary schools, so I was on my way there,” he said.
Shortly thereafter, he learned that the airplane had crashed in Shanksville, but at the time was not familiar with the location.
Since, said Matthews, he has made several trips to the site, and has brought family members and youngsters to allow them, too, to learn of the bravery of the 40 men and women.
However, he had yet to see the completion of the first phase of construction.
“It’s very nice,” he said as he passed the wall of names. “There is still work to be done and I hope they are able to complete it.”
Parker Carte, 10, a student at Bullskin Township Elementary School, was in awe of actions of the passengers and crew and planned to share his thoughts with his classmates when he returns to school today.
“I’m here to honor those on Flight 93 that sacrificed their life to save America,” he said.
“They were our first soldiers in the war on terror.”
State Rep. Richard Kasunic, D-Dunbar, whose district includes Connellsville and Shanksville, also attended the memorial services.
“They were 40 heroes,” he said. “They realized they were not going to survive, so instead of allowing the terrorists to wreak further havoc on Washington, they were willing to give their lives.”
Kasunic said that he was in Alaska on a hunting trip when he learned of what transpired on 9/11. Communication, he said, was sparse.
After learning of the full impact of the days’ events, Kasunic said that his first thoughts were to return to his district to help restore calm.
However, due to the shuttering of air travel for several days and scheduling, it took more than a week for him to return.
“I didn’t know what I was going to be able to do,” he said.
Since, he has been a staunch supporter of the development of the park and an avid supporter of the families that lost their loved ones on 9/11.
“The memory of what they did is etched in my mind and I will carry it to my grave,” he said.