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Shapiro joins families to mark 24th anniversary of crash of United Flight 93

Renatta Signorini
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Massoud Hossaini | TribLive
Governor Josh Shapiro arrives to places a wreath during national wreath ceremony marking the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks at the Flight 93 National Memorial, near Shanksville, on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025.
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Massoud Hossaini | TribLive
Governor Josh Shapiro and other guests place a wreath during national wreath ceremony marking the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks at the Flight 93 National Memorial, near Shanksville, on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025.
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Massoud Hossaini | TribLive
Governor Josh Shapiro pays respect during national wreath ceremony marking the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks at the Flight 93 National Memorial, near Shanksville, on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025.
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Massoud Hossaini | TribLive
Governor Josh Shapiro walks with Ken Nacky, from a victim family uring national wreath ceremony marking the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks at the Flight 93 National Memorial, near Shanksville, on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025.
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Massoud Hossaini | TribLive
Yachiyo Kuge of Osaka Japan, and mother of Flight 93 victim Toshiya Kuge, pays her respects at the Wall of Names prior to the start of the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, on Thursday.
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Renatta Signorini | TribLive
Visitors at the Flight 93 National Memorial on Thursday.
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Massoud Hossaini | TribLive
Relatives of Mark Bingham, a Flight 93 victim, pay their respects at the Wall of Names prior to the start of the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, on Thursday.
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Massoud Hossaini | TribLive
Yachiyo Kuge of Osaka, Japan, and mother of Flight 93 victim Toshiya Kuge, pays her respects at the Wall of Names prior to the start of the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, on Thursday.
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Massoud Hossaini | TribLive
Relatives of Mark Bingham, a Flight 93 victim, pay their respects at the Wall of Names prior to the start of the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, on Thursday.
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Massoud Hossaini | TribLive
Relatives of Mark Bingham, a Flight 93 victim, pays their respects at the Wall of Names prior to the start of the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, on Thursday.

Gov. Josh Shapiro joined family members at the private wreath-laying ceremony at the Flight 93 National Memorial Thursday on the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Shapiro did not speak at the opening ceremony in the memorial plaza that held a standing-room-only crowd. The ceremony included a ringing of the Bells of Remembrance and the reading of the 40 names of the passengers and crew on the airplane.

Flight 93 National Memorial superintendent Stephen Clark opened the 24th observance.

“The transformation of this special place and our dedication to its preservation in their honor gave us hope that future generations will continue to come here,” Clark said.

On Thursday morning, some of the names were read by family members.

“My son.”

“My sister.”

“A wonderful son, brother, father and superior pilot, my cousin.”

The Rev. Robert Way, retired from the Good Shepherd Lutheran Cooperative, Shanksville, said he sees the field where the plane crashed as a place of healing.

“What was once a common field is now a field of honor … hallowed not by us but by the lives of your loved ones.”

In a closing prayer, Way asked for continued healing for families of the 40 passengers and crew on Flight 93, despite the 24 years that have passed.

“Loss is always loss,” he said.

The ceremony concluded with Flight 93 families walking to the crash site for a private wreath laying.

The gate to the crash site was opened by Somerset Regional Volunteer Fire Department.

United Flight 93 crashed in what was a rural Stonycreek field at 10:03 a.m. Sept. 11, 2001, after being hijacked by terrorists in a coordinated attack. Those aboard fought back to take control of the aircraft after learning other hijacked planes crashed into targets in New York City and Washington, D.C.

Flight 93 was the only plane hijacked that day that did not reach its intended target, believed to be the U.S. Capitol Building.

The program was broadcast live on the memorial’s YouTube page.

Park officials said visitation at the site remains strong. Between 2021 and 2024, the Somerset County memorial saw an average annual visitation of 374,540 people, according to National Park Service statistics. That’s about two and a half times as many average annual visitors — 141,830 — between 2007 and 2010, years before the permanent memorial was finished.

Renatta Signorini is a TribLive reporter covering breaking news, crime, courts and Jeannette. She has been working at the Trib since 2005. She can be reached at rsignorini@triblive.com.

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