Support the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville

We’ve come to view memorials as little more than tourist attractions, something to take pictures of while on vacation.

Memorials are so much more than that, though. They represent the things that we as a city, a state, or a nation want to put in our collective long-term memory. While they’re made of rock and cement and stone, they represent things that for one reason or another we know must never forget, from the words of Abraham Lincoln, to the courage of George Washington, to the bravery of the troops who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

We the people have notoriously short attention spans, and they seem to be getting shorter each generation, which makes our need for memorials even more important.

Do you remember where you were when you first heard that the second plane crashed into the World Trade Center? I do. I remember listening to the news in New York City. Was it an invasion of the United States? Did the cloud over Manhattan contain toxic gases? Were there other planes in the sky?

Thankfully, as the dust literally settled, most of the wild rumors were proved false. Except for one. Yes, there was one more plane in the sky. It was headed directly for the White House or the Capitol Dome. And it went down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The passengers on the plane fought back. In this war that the terrorists brought to our soil, it was the first sign that this was not the country of weak, cowardly, and morally bankrupt people that the terrorists were trying to tell the world we were. No, the men and women of Flight 93 showed that in this country there were strong, brave, heroic people who stood up for what was just and good.

In the months after 9/11, the country started to change. Blood banks were so filled with volunteers that they had to turn people away. Members of Congress stood on the Capitol Steps locked arm in arm and sang “God Bless America”.

Now, ten years later, things have changed back. As it was on September 10, 2011, all we hear is people shouting at each other and not reasoning with each other. How quickly we forget.

And so, perhaps more than ever we need the Flight 93 National Memorial, a memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania to commemorate where the flight went down and ordinary men and women like you and me lost their lives in a battle against those who would destroy our country. The National Park Foundation (the national charitable partner of the National Park Service) is working to build the memorial, which relies on donations from private citizens.

Aside from leaving a direct donation at http://www.honorflight93.org, you can also order some items where proceeds will go to benefit the memorial.

The first is a “9/11 Never Forget” pin designed by Philadelphia jeweler Steven Singer to benefit the Flight 93 National Memorial Campaign. Since 2009, Mr. Singer has sold over 20,000 pins. 100% of the proceeds from the pins, sold for $10 each, are donated to construction of the Memorial. The pins have sold out, but they’ll be available for sale again on August 1, 2011. To pre-order a pin, email flight93memorial@nationalparks.org with your name, mailing address, phone number, and the number of pins you would like to purchase.