I choose to use the word dead in my title rather than victims, because we are talking about heroes. Many people fought to live and fought against evil on September 11. So today at the submarine convention we remembered heroes. In case the Twin Towers and the Pentagon dominate our memory, a post script to the day is that a United Airlines flight 93 left Newark airport with 33 passengers, one unborn baby, 4 hijackers and 7 flight crew crashed at Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The plane was delayed in take off from Newark 25 minutes. That was enough time for people on that plane to hear from friends and relatives that airplanes had attacked at 3 sites. Headed for San Francisco, the plane was overtaken by 4 hijackers at 9:28am and she banked and turned over Cleveland to head on a SE course headed presumably for the White House or Camp David which is 85 miles SE of the crash site. No one knows exactly what the planned final destination was. I tried to imagine how I would have acted that day. 13 people placed 37 phone calls to report what was happening onboard. When it became clear that their plane was to be used as a weapon, the 33 passengers and crew took a vote and decided to counter attack. Probably locked into shock, fear, and grief, they prayed the Our Father (this was heard on cell phones) and then, presumably led by Todd Beamer, they rushed the cockpit using a flight attendant food cart and boiling water prepared for burning the highjackers by the flight attendants. At 9:57am the cock pit voice recorder recorded shouts, thumps, crashes, breaking glass and plates. Investigators speculate that the hijackers remained in control of the aircraft, but the plane pitched onto its back and at 10:03am drove into the ground at 563 miles per hour exploding with a huge fireball. First responders arrived within 15 minutes but there was nothing but a crater and a large debris field that today has been thoroughly investigated and covered with wild flowers and grasses. This debris field is surrounded by a black low wall. The plane was 18 minutes from Washington DC when it crashed coming to ground from the NW. The descent path is marked by a visitor center / museum on a hill, and a long white wall with the passenger and crew names carved on it. Not yet completed is a walk way out to the point of impact that today is a temporary walkway and a large boulder. We went first to the Memorial Plaza which is a slab of concrete that borders the debris field. From there you can view the descent path and a giant boulder that was the point of impact. We placed a wreath on the Memorial Plaza. When I read the names of the dead, one name Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas was followed by and unborn child. What a loss. We then went to a small chapel that was originally a Lutheran church sold and turned into a feed and seed barn and purchased by Father Al Mascherino to be a permanent memorial chapel for the tragedy. The tiny chapel stands in Shanksville, on the flight path of the doomed airliner, on a holy mountain, as our host suggested today, and is a beautiful testament to the faith of a people who saw the need for a place of refuge and prayer for peace. Father Al, passed away, wrote "Tread gently on our hills. Welcome visitor, tread gently." You are on ground hallowed by people who, in the final moments of their lives, demonstrated courage, strength, purpose and commitment. In the sanctuary is a lamp that is shaped like the crater, yet a perpetual light shines. Above it flies an airplane. There are beautiful stained glass windows in this little chapel. One is a gift from Congregation Emanu-El Israel signifying the grace and wisdom of God. There is a mural with rolling thunder clouds and 40 stars called "How Great Thou Art." As we left the church, Father asked each submariner to toll the giant steel bell built in 1860. One toll for each soul. 40 tolls. It is called thunder bell because the people of this peaceful place heard thunder one day and it changed our lives. We ate lunch and were entertained by a wonderful trio of actors who sang patriotic songs and celebrated American heroes starting with Patrick Henry’s speech. It was a wonderful 45 minute celebration of America with all the heroic songs including God Bless America and the National Anthem. The ride back to Pittsburgh was a long one but the host put in a John Wayne biography so we watched John Wayne for 2 hours from his first film to his last (the Shootist). Wayne died after receiving a medal from the White House "John Wayne American." Pray for America and for the world as refugees leave home in numbers that remind us of the Irish exodus and the Exodus of Jews to Israel. We still have the opening of the convention tonight with a Welcome Aboard Party. God bless you.
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