The author of the newly published “Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11” calls United Airlines Flight 93 an “extraordinary part of the the story.”

Mitchell Zuckoff, a Boston University journalism professor who covered the September 11 attack while he was with the Boston Globe, will deliver the keynote speech during the annual Sept. 11 ceremony at Flight 93 National Memorial, the National Park Service announced Tuesday.

Zuckoff’s latest book details the terrorist attacks by focusing on those who were killed and those who survived. The book includes stories of the passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93 and of first responders at the Stonycreek Township crash site.

“It was a privilege to tell that story, and it’s a privilege to honor those 40 heroes,” Zuckoff said Tuesday in a telephone interview.

“This is one of the great honors of my career and my career and my life.”

The annual observance will begin at 9:45 a.m. Sept. 11 on the Memorial Plaza. Commemorating the actual time the airliner went down in the field near Shanksville, the names of the passengers and crew members will be read beginning at 10:03 a.m. With the reading of each name, the Bells of Remembrance will be rung and a wreath will be placed at the Wall of Names.

Zuckoff said his speech will focus on the actions of the 40 passengers and crew aboard Flight 93 who rose up against the terrorist hijackers.

“I am going to talk about how the men and women on Flight 93 represent the very best of us,” he said. “The way they came together, the way they fought back — while the goal was certainly to save themselves, the effect was for the greater good. I think that’s an example for us all.”

Gordon Felt, president of the Families of Flight 93, will also deliver remarks. Music will be provided by Pittsburgh’s River City Brass Band.

“We will gather, once again, to reflect and remember the heroes of Flight 93 whose actions that day continue to amaze and inspire us all,” Felt said in the press release.

The park service notes there will be limited seating available for the one-hour observance and advises that those attending dress for the weather and wear shoes appropriate for walking on mown grass and uneven ground.

Entrance to the memorial will close at sunset on Sept. 10 and reopen at 7 a.m. Sept. 11.

Visitors will park in designated lots. Shuttles will begin operating at 7:15 a.m. and will include accessible buses that accommodate wheelchairs. No backpacks are permitted.

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