The heroes of Flight 93 live on as visitors flock to National Memorial

Sep. 11—At first they worried their story would be lost.

The families of the passengers and crew members of United Flight 93 knew they held a precious piece of American history. The efforts of 40 people who lost their lives on a rural Pennsylvania mountaintop thwarting a terrorist plot to crash their jet into the U.S. Capitol could easily be overlooked by Americans immersed in a never-ending video loop of the Twin Towers collapsing and the Pentagon in flames.

Two decades later, at the Flight 93 National Memorial where thousands thronged to the crash site to mark the 20th anniversary of 9/11, it became apparent their fears were misplaced.

The story is told and retold every day at the National Memorial. Park rangers and volunteers — some of whom were there that day — share the story as parents tell their children where they were on that day.

Linn Kraus was among the hundreds who waited in line for hours along Route 30 on Saturday to get into the National Memorial. He traveled from Buffalo, N.Y., with his son, Owen, 15, to pay tribute to the heroes of Flight 93: 40 people who coalesced as a group on the doomed jetliner, made a plan, took a vote, prayed and mounted an assault to regain control of jet.

Theirs was the only one of four hijacked jetliners to fall short of targets in New York and Washington, D.C.

"It was worth the wait," Kraus said, gazing at the distant boulder that marked the crash site and the final resting place of the remains of the passengers and crew members.

"This was something I've wanted to come to for years," he told his son. "America changed that day."

They were among the first to gain entry to the National Park Service site Saturday. It was closed to the public until the 12:30 p.m. conclusion of a memorial service for the families of Flight 93 and a visit by President Biden, who placed a wreath at the memorial's Wall of Names.

John Williamson of Hebron, Md., who traveled to the National Memorial with his sons, Mason, 17, and Colin, 13, echoed Kraus' sentiments.

Williamson was 21 on 9/11. He said the heroism he learned of that day put him on a road to a life in public service as a police dispatcher. He wanted to share those tales with his sons in the flesh.

"I told them you can't learn everything about history in a classroom. We've been to New York and the Pentagon, and now we're here," Williamson said.

Gordon "Gordie" Felt is president of the Families of Flight 93. He has been involved with the National Memorial for 20 years.

He said this year just felt different.

"The interest we've seen — national, international, local — surpassed anything we've seen in the past," Felt said. "And the numbers that have come through the gates here are amazing."

Vera Stokes was a family friend of LeRoy Homer, who was the first officer on Flight 93. She felt it, too.

Stokes traveled to the National Memorial with two of Homer's young cousins. She has been to several services there over the years and is impressed with the way the National Memorial came together.

"The love you feel here is second to none," she said. "People come here and they're focused on what is important — not on our differences, but on unity."

A group of United Airlines flight attendants from Atlanta, sporting their uniforms and carrying bouquets to honor their fallen colleagues, was equally impressed on their first visit to the memorial .

Said one of the women: "People said, 'You have to go there. And now I understand why."

Longing for a return of unity

Others waited hours to mark the day at the National Memorial. At 2 p.m., a line of traffic snaked slowly up the 3-mile entryway to the facility while traffic remained lined up for more than 2 miles both ways on Route 30 waiting for troopers to wave them onto the entry road.

Felt said it feels as though the sense of purpose and unity the passengers and crew showed that day 20 years ago and the kind of national unity seen in the wake of 9/11 is beginning to resonate across a battered nation.

"I think people are ready to hear it this year," Felt said. "I think people long for Sept. 12. They long for dignity. They long for unity."

Deb Erdley is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Deb at 724-850-1209, derdley@triblive.com or via Twitter .