SHANKSVILLE, PA. — Bells rang out over a field of yellow and white wildflowers as, one by one, or in groups, they crossed the platform. Family and friends of the victims of United Airlines Flight 93 read the names of their loved ones to thousands of visitors and fellow Americans on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
“My daughter, Deora Frances Bodley.”
“My lovely mother.” “My beautiful sister.” “CeeCee Ross Lyles.”
“Our brother, Louis Joseph Nacke II.”
Each time, a bell tolled. And then there was silence, as family members explained that the anniversary of Sept. 11 brought relief and hope — but didn’t douse the pain of that day.
“The anguish of Sept. 11 continues to overwhelm,” said Gordon Felt, president of the Families of Flight 93.
His brother Edward was lost that day. He said he hated the phrase, “Time heals all pain.”
“Do we as individuals, or as a community, truly want to be fully healed if the end result involves the complete elimination of the pain that alerts us to all that we lost that morning?” he asked.
The flight’s 40 passengers and crew members are often called heroes for storming the cockpit of their hijacked jetliner, preventing the al Qaeda terrorists at the controls of the aircraft from hitting their target: the U.S. Capitol, most likely.
On Sunday, state officials, religious leaders and families of the victims came together with thousands of Americans from across the country to pay their respects to those heroes.
“It was so frightening to see,” said Diana Camann, who drove up from Waldorf, Md. “But we were so proud that the people on Flight 93 acted like Americans: Take charge, find a solution and do the best that you can do. And they did.”
The long, winding road to the memorial was backed up for miles as the sun rose on Sunday. Forecasts had called for rain, but the sky was bright blue.
It reminded several people at the ceremony how beautiful the Tuesday morning of Sept. 11 had been. A Vietnam veteran wandering the memorial said he had prayed for fair weather.
A chorus of children, some with braces on their teeth and carefully braided hair, came from Johnston, Pa., to sing “America the Beautiful” and hymns of peace.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett looked to the national anthem for inspiration. “Clearly, this site is the home of the brave,” he said.
Nearly 800 family members of the 40 victims of Flight 93 filed in for the commemoration, sitting front and center in a reserved section.
There were times during the ceremony when everyone was asked to stand: moments of silence for when the planes hit the World Trade Center and crashed into the Pentagon.
Among the mourners were teenagers who were still young children on the day of the attacks.
“We lost too much, those 10 years ago,” Felt said. But he did not want to erase the memory of that day, as much as it hurt — and still hurts.
“We cannot escape the painful reality of history,” he said. “But we can choose to be inspired by that reality.”
The revolt aboard Flight 93 “shows what makes us different,” Corbett said. “Captivity does not suit us,” only freedom does.
“That truth grows like the smoke over this field 10 years ago,” he said.
And as that truth rang out, so did the bells.
