Flight 93 Memorial Run
By Dana Coyle, District 3 Representative
The run took place on September 18 and it was an absolutely beautiful day! The weather was a bit chilly but sunshine and blue skies all the way. We had a great turn out, from what I was told we had almost 300 sign in! Awesome! Then we got to the memorial and....well disorganization!! We did not know we had to put our hiking boots on! It was about a _ mile walk down a hillside to get to the wall and even further to get to the other entrance. But the majority of us made it down the hill. I was asked to give a short speech that day and was so prepared, but since we never actually had the whole group of us together at any one point it never happened. So I decided instead of wasting such beautiful words I will ask you to use your imagination, I know you all have good ones, and bear with me. Just picture being in Shanksville at the wall and listening to my oh so lovely voice. Yeah yeah you can chuckle now, but here is my speech.
Each and every one of us has a profound moment in our lives that we will never forget, it may have changed the course of our lives or just will be a moment in our hearts forever, whether it be the birth of a child, the death of a parent, the first day on the dream job or the loss of a loved one, it will always be in our hearts.
On September 11, 2001 all of us share one profound moment together. I am sure we all remember where we were that fateful day and what we were doing when we got the news. Flight 93 was supposed to leave Newark that morning at 8:01, but it was delayed due to congestion on the runway. It did not leave until 8:42. Just a mere 41 minutes late! That 41 minutes gave the passengers and crew enough time to find out about the other attacks that day! When they were hijacked, they were told there was a bomb on the plane, but due to calls to home they found out that is was more than a hijacking, it was a suicide mission! In that time these ordinary every day people had to make a decision. I am sure when they woke to go about their every day lives they did not expect to die that day and I know they never expected to die heroes. They were people just like you and me.
Todd Beamer will go down in history for saying the infamous line “Let's Roll” but did you know that that is what he said to his wife and children whenever they went somewhere? He was a businessman and a Sunday school teacher. Mark Bingham was the last to board the plane that day; he was headed home to a weekend wedding. Nicole Miller was a beautiful 21-year-old girl with her whole life ahead of her. Cee Cee Lyles was a police officer for years and decided to pursue her dream of becoming a flight attendant. Patricia Cushing and Jane Folger were sister in laws who had lost their husbands and were vacationing together. Jeremy Glick had a three-month-old daughter at home. Ward Greene had a twin sister and changed her schedule to work that day so she could have the next few days off. And Patrick 'Joe' Driscoll was a retired research director that grew up in NY and was known to never lose a fight. On that day these everyday people became American heroes! They may have hoped to save their lives that day but they knew that they would be saving the lives of hundreds or thousands of others.
So we need to continue our stories through the generations so that no one ever forgets them. A friend of mine brought a song to my attention called Edge of Glory. She says that we do not live in heaven or hell but we all live each day on the edge of glory. The 7-crew members and 33 passengers of Flight 93 did not know that their Glory would not shine until they perished!
So in closing, all of us who have donated our time and monies to help build this monument need to be proud! In some small way we have helped keep the memories alive so that no one will ever forget the heroes that gave some light at the end of this brutal and murderous tragedy!
In 2005, following a yearlong international competition comprising over 1,000 submissions, a jury consisting of project partners and industry professionals selected the “Circle of Embrace” by Paul Murdoch Architects as the winning design for the Memorial. The creation of the Flight 93 National Memorial is an historic opportunity to honor the citizen heroes and to share the story of their courage. It is a monument to the very best of American character, a place where future generations can come to learn about how the actions of a few people can make a profound and lasting difference.
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