[Nafheense]

On a recent road trip, I visited the Flight 93 National Monument in Shanksville, PA.



This image was taken from the overlook at the temporary memorial site, prior to the dedication of the first phase of the permanent memorial.

May we never forget the courage and sacrifice of the 40 passengers and crew of Flight 93, who lost their lives not as victims but as heroes fighting back against the attack on our nation that day.

There is some debate over what target the cowardly hijackers were flying Flight 93 towards, but there can be no debate that they didn't get to attack their target because of the heroic actions of the passengers and crew aboard the aircraft.

They nearly retook the aircraft when the cowardly hijackers deliberately crashed the plane. We will never know for certain how many lives were saved at the site of the hijackers' intended target, but it may well have been hundreds. Many believe that the aircraft was intended to hit the capitol building, which was occupied by at least a thousand people that day.

In a very real sense, the passengers of Flight 93 were the first Americans to fight back against Al Queda in what would become a massive global "war on terror". May they rest in peace.