In the pre-dawn darkness, the “chance of showers” forecast turned into steady rain so our trip to Shanksville for the Flight 93 Remembrance Day was in jeopardy. I watched the TV weather, used my computer to check the Weather Channel Map in motion, and then tried to do the impossible – predict the weather in Somerset County 75 miles west of our home.

 

Although we had agreed to cancel if it rained, I was quick to recite, “Many a picnic has been spoiled by the threat of rain.”   We left home confident that the rain would pass.

 

When you travel east to west through Pennsylvania, you will experience a weather change because most of our weather fronts move west to east. By the time we reached Blair County the steady rain slowed, and then further west in Cambria County it stopped altogether. 

 

The weather cooperated for the first half of the Flight 93 Remembrance Day Event. A light drizzle started mid-way through the ceremony and umbrellas popped up, but everyone stayed to see the release of 40 white doves to end the morning observance. The 40 white doves represented the 40 passengers on board Flight 93.

 

Rain or not, we were glad we went to the ceremony.

 

                

 

In the crowd, we met a woman and her daughter, both from Altoona, and we did the standard “people in the crowd” conversation. That means you ask enough questions and give enough answers to feel comfortable continuing the conversation. I am not sure how we got around to it, but she owns a 1967 Cadillac Eldorado with 17,000 miles on the odometer – perfect shape, never wrecked, original paint, and garage stored for the past 40years. She tried to find a picture in her purse, but only turned up photos of family members etc.

 

She also introduced us to one of the eye-witnesses to the Flight 93 impact. Nevin Lambert was doing outside chores on his nearby farm on September 11, 2001 when he saw the plane roll belly up, loose altitude, and hit the ground and burst into flames on an abandoned strip mine just west of a dirt road called Skyline Drive.  He told us that he and a worker at a junk yard above the impact spot are the only two people to see the final moments of Flight 93.

 

Nevin said that prior to September 11, 2001, only two vehicles daily traveled Skyline Drive – the milk truck and postal carrier. Since then, nearly 500,000 people have made the drive.  Life on that stripcut will never be the same.