Flight 93 National Memorial exhibit recalls first decade
As the 18th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, the Flight 93 National Memorial will open a special exhibit, “Memories from the Memorial — Looking Back 2001-2011.”
The exhibit looks back over the first 10 years of the park’s evolution, from a chain-link fence filled with tributes to the 2011 dedication of the permanent memorial, according to Katie Cordek, National Park Service spokeswoman.
The national memorial commemorates the 40 passengers and crew members of United Flight 93, who died when terrorists hijacked and crashed the plane in Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, on Sept. 11, 2001.
Planned to open 11 a.m.-3 p.m. July 13, the exhibit will be open those hours July 14, July 20-21, Aug. 3-4, Aug. 10-11, Aug. 18, Aug. 24-25, Aug. 31-Sept. 1, and Sept. 7-8, according to the park service.
Free and open to the public, the exhibit will be held in the Flight 93 Learning Center, 6424 Lincoln Highway, Stoystown.
Included will be several items from the chain-link fence memorial, as well as a sampling of memorial benches and flags and a portion of the original memorial fencing.
Visitors will have the chance to sign a painted replica plywood board, similar to the one guests would have viewed 18 years ago.
Flight 93 ambassadors, volunteers who staffed the different temporary memorial locations to the present, permanent memorial, will be on hand. They can answer questions and further explain the history the early temporary memorial features.
Photographs and oral histories from past ambassadors’ interpretive panels will provide context regarding certain aspects of the exhibit, and promote the upcoming “Trail of Remembrance.” The new trail to the former site of the temporary memorial is set to open in November.
“I think we have to (have) a memorial here. I think it’s important for the citizens of this country to have a place to go to where they can reflect on that, remember that day, and bring their children and educate them,” Vaughn Catuzzi Lohec, sister of passenger Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas, said in a release.
Details: 814-893-6322 or nps.gov
Mary Pickels is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Mary at 724-836-5401, [email protected] or via Twitter .