Driving down the Pennsylvania Turnpike, I unexpectedly saw a sign for a National Memorial and was compelled to detour.
It is said that although the weather was mild and the sky was clear, few people were outside that morning. They were inside, glued to their television sets watching events unfold on the morning of 9/11/2001 when they heard the roar of jet engines as American Flight 93 skimmed low overhead, disappearing beyond the rise as their small community joined New York and Washington D.C. in the fateful events that unfolded that day.
Forty people comprised the crew and passengers of Flight 93
The memorial is still a work in progress. A solemn walkway takes visitors to a memorial wall where forty names can be found. The field to the left of the walkway is off limits to all but family members of the departed.
Those who look carefully can see there was a 41st passenger onboard, seated with his/her mother, Lauren. To the right of her name, you can just make out the faint, unpainted, etching which reads
"and unborn child"
Along the walkway, overlooking the field of Flight 93's impact, niches overlook the resting place of the 41 souls and small tokens are left in remembrance .
