Just got home from a nice road trip in the greater Pittsburgh Pennsylvania area. Posting this, I also see that I forgot to post an away message before I left. So, that is why there was a gap. Anyway, I went on the road trip with a buddy of mine to get in some sights. I’ll post the historic ones here to share, just in case one of you is thinking about visiting yourself. I’ll start with one from recent history. We started by going to the Flight 93 Memorial. This site commemorates the crashed 9/11 flight 93 in Shanksville Pennsylvania. The site is just off of route 30 and is very easy to get to. It has a memorial site showing all the victims and a nice museum. You can spend thirty minutes or many hours.
“On Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001, the U.S. came under attack when four commercial airliners were hijacked and used to strike targets on the ground. Nearly 3,000 people tragically lost their lives. Because of the actions of the 40 passengers and crew aboard one of the planes, Flight 93, the attack on the U.S. Capitol was thwarted.”
https://www.nps.gov/flni/index.htm
When you first go in, you will see the Tower of Voices on your left hand side. This sound making structure honors the victims of the crash.
Driving up the hill to the main site, you come to the main museum, which is situated between architectural walls. The museum shows the events of that day in pictures and artifacts.
The museum is very interesting and includes displays on all the attacks and includes historic news coverage of the twin tower events (this really bright back memories for me).
Down hill from the museum is the open field that encompasses a large portion of the sight where the debris was found. There is a long concrete walled path that leads to the marker for the final point of the plane crash. There is also a parallel wall that tracks the flight path. On this wall, you find the names of all the victims. The area can be walked to from the museum or you can drive down and park close by.
The site is very moving and if you are old enough to remember that day, it is worth the visit. Like all other historical monuments, it is there to remind us of the heroism of the past that should not be forgotten.
- Manteuffel