Eight years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. government and landowners in Somerset County have reached an agreement that will allow the building of a memorial to the passengers and crew of hijacked Flight 93 that crashed into the fields of rural Pennsylvania. 
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says the memorial will cost about $20 million, which includes $9.5 million for the land.
“The fields of western Pennsylvania, where the heroes of Flight 93 perished, are hallowed ground for a grateful nation,” Salazar said.
“We have reached this important milestone in properly honoring the courage and sacrifice of the men and women who gave their lives that day,” he said. “The Flight 93 Memorial will soon stand in their honor.”
The National Park Service signed agreements with eight landowners and expects construction to begin after groundbreaking in November with an eye to completing the memorial by Sept. 11, 2011.
Photo Credit: Reuters/Jason Cohn (Flight 93 temporary memorial)
Trackback
6 comments so far
It is a shame that the owners of the land where Flight 93 crashed are so cold they wanted to make money off the people who gave their lives to protect this country. They are as bad as the people who did this attack. They do not even have the right to be called Americans.
- Posted by Juan RodriguezThese people own property on which a national tragedy occurred. There is no reason they shouldn’t receive compensation for their land being appropriated for any reason. The government can’t simply take someone’s land from them to build a memorial– or anything else– without purchasing it on the market.
If something like this happened in my backyard, I wouldn’t want my backyard simply taken from me as a result. My backyard is still my backyard, regardless. I paid for it, I own it, it’s mine. Perhaps that seems insensitive, but that’s erality.
- Posted by MichelleTrue. A memorial will serve a good purpose
- Posted by ArvindGlad the landowners could spare the space
[...] Secretary Ken Salazar told Tabassum Zakaria, “We have reached this important milestone in properly honoring the courage and sacrifice of [...]
- Posted by NYC Freedom Tower: Freedom Tower News, Updates, ImagesUnited Airlines 93
Was Heaven bound one day
In a Shanksville, Pennsylvania field
Forty people met destiny
Four men planned to crash the plane
Their intentions very clear
To kill hundreds, even thousands more
To succeed without a care
They tried but failed to overcome
To gain control with fear
As a Greater Power stood behind
The forty people there
It took two parts to make a pact
When Evil versus Good
Bravery stared down cowardice
Courage was where they stood
The Heroes of Flight 93
All chose to take a stand
And face this moment bravely
Under His Protective Hand
God knew the decision they had made
Which revealed their hearts were true
So He smiled and gave a blessing
Then He watched them carry through
They bid goodbye to loved ones
The Lord’s Prayer made them whole
A voice was heard, “You ready?”
Followed by “LET’S ROLL!”
What happened next, God only knows
But it must have been a sight
To see Evil buckle under Good
And make a wrong a right
God was with those forty passengers
It isn’t hard to guess
He was there to give them passage
Forty souls of which He blessed
Then the mission was completed
It was a tragic victory
Forty passengers met their destiny
Aboard United Airlines 93
Each life, you see, surrendered then
To save many more on ground
Then these forty lives were given
A ticket Heaven bound
In September of 2001
Known today as “9/11″
Forty heroes arrived in Shanksville
And gained entry into Heaven
(A Glimpse Into My Heart)
- Posted by Roxanne BuckeyeRoxannne Buckeye-author
May 1, 2006
Dedicated In Honor of Flight 93
I think it is churlish to criticise the land owners for requiring reimbursment for the land on which the memorial will be situated. The land is very valuable.
- Posted by MattIt is reasonable that the land owner’s require compensation. They are innocent victim’s too.