My wife, Carla, and I accompanied a local FFA team to Maine for a national FFA wildlife competition. We wanted learning opportunities along the way. My cousin Bob Wright encouraged me to include a stop at the Flight 93 memorial in western Pennsylvania on the way home.

Flight 93 was the fourth and final hijacked plane that crashed on Sept. 11, 2001. Instead of reaching its target somewhere around Washington, D.C., terrorist hijackers put the plane down in a field near Shanksville, Penn., after passengers revolted.

My cousin said it was a solemn visit, but one that made him appreciate the courageous spirit of everyday Americans even more. I wasn’t sure how four teenagers would respond. They were only toddlers when 9/11 occurred. They only know about it from history class. We decided we would include a stop on the last day back if we had time.

Must visit
We made time. You should, too. Any thoughts about whether the teenagers would relate vanished as soon as they climbed off the bus, saw the huge memorial walls built to represent the flight path and took off to see the 40-acre field where the plane imploded.

Each one of us stood there, silently, trying to imagine the unimaginable horror of that morning. It was a bright, clear morning when we stopped, just as it was when the plane dropped out of the sky.

Inside the visitors center, maintained by National Parks staff, there are display walls with TV screens replaying broadcasts of the World Trade Center’s twin towers collapsing in New York City, plus scenes from the Pentagon and that Pennsylvania field. There are also replays of speeches by then President George W. Bush and former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

Most poignant is the display featuring pictures of all 40 innocent passengers who perished. There is also a description of how they made the decision to try to overtake the hijackers. While their efforts resulted in a crash, they most likely prevented destruction of either the U.S. Capitol or the White House. The actual target will likely never be known.

There are three telephones that play the last recorded messages of three passengers to their loved ones. I didn’t even try to listen. Carla made it through one but hung up in tears before finishing the second.

“Every athlete who thinks they don’t need to stand for the national anthem should be required to visit this place,” Carla exclaimed. “Anyone who thinks they’re oppressed in America should listen to those tapes.”

I agree, and not just because she’s my wife. What those 40 Americans did in the face of unspeakable horror is nothing short of amazing. They gave their lives, but they prevented the terrorists from achieving a huge symbolic victory.

Let freedom sing
The four teenagers and four adults who piled back on the bus were changed. On the way out, we passed a 93-foot tower that will be dedicated this Sept. 11. It will be equipped with 40 unique wind chimes, each representing a passenger or crew member on the plane, and each speaking with a unique “voice” forever.

America needs a renewed sense of patriotism. Each one of us rededicating ourselves to our great land can make it happen. In the immortal words of Todd Beamer, a passenger of Flight 93 who took on the hijackers, “Let’s roll.”

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