Monday, October 29, 2018

Shanksville, PA (USA)

Mollie asked me if I could be a chaperone for her Criminal Justice Course Field Trip to Somerset County, Pennsylvania, so I took the day off from work and so I could go along! I woke Mollie up at 0515 and we ate breakfast (bagels). We then drove to the High School and met the Criminal Justice Class as they were getting on the school bus (0600). It turned out that I was not needed as a chaperone but the teacher said I was still welcome. One of the teachers/chaperones actually missed the bus when we left (0630). We rode on a big tour bus from Alexandria to (near) Shanksville, PA (I-495, I-270, I-70, US-30) - we got to use the Beltway Express Lanes and even stopped at a Weigh Station. We arrived at the Flight 93 Memorial by 0930 - it was much different than I remembered. I had taken Brenna and Erin to this National Park unit in 2008, long before the final memorial site design was ready and before there was even a real paved road to the crash site. Back then, the local people volunteered to interpret the event from their personal experiences on September 11th and there were informal memorials with lots of personal items stacked against a temporary fence. Today's experience was totally different: we saw beautiful landscapes, manicured lawns and paved walkways, along with a pretty grove of memorial trees. A new Visitors Center had replaced an old wooden shack we'd visited 10 years ago and it was filled with recordings of phone messages from the flight crew and passengers, along with many personal belongings that had been found during the FBI investigation. The Teacher set us up in a classroom with a great Park Ranger who gave a presentation on how the passengers decided to act to preserve their lives and, ultimately, at least one national building on that horrific day. He also had all the students do research with binders that included transcripts (of phone calls and voice recorder) and timelines and helped them sift through the available information to find true crime scene evidence. Mollie got a NPS Passport stamp and then we went back to the bus (1145) to eat lunch (turkey and cheese sandwiches, pumpkin bread) that we brought with us. The bus soon took us to another location. Our walk on the grounds, while very cold and wet, was moving and meaningful and we were able to get very close to the site where 92% of United Flight 93 is still buried. On the way out of the park (1300), we made a stop at the (not quite completed) Tower of Voices, that will eventually have one distinct wind chime for each person who died at the site. Overall, the trip was a great reminder of what was lost on that day and, I believe, made a strong impression on these kids that might one day begin careers as first responders. After leaving the park, we drove (backtracking our route) for about an hour and stopped at a McDonalds in Breezewood, Pennsylvania. We stayed there until 1430. Mollie and I were frustrated about the delay but the other kids loved hanging out and eating in the restaurant. Eventually, we got on the road and headed for home. The teacher put in a DVD for everyone to watch (“Monster House”) and we got back to the High School at 1640. I took Mollie back to my house so she could pack before going home. I figured that would happen right away but she called her mother to ask if she could stay at my house until 1800 (that was agreeable) and she ate dinner at my place. Afterwards, I wrapped up some pumpkin bread for her to take to her mother's and loaded her stuff (including the jack-o-lantern) in my car. I dropped Mollie off at Nicky’s at 1745.