A nonprofit group behind the Flight 93 National Memorial announced on Monday the first annual Flight 93 Heroes Award opened for nominations ahead of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, a move to continue educating future generations about the pivotal moment in United States history.
The national award will be presented each year to people who have demonstrated “remarkable acts of selfless courage in their community,” according to a readout from the Friends of Flight 93 National Memorial. The group said the award will be presented to a new recipient each year “in memory of the heroism displayed by the 40 passengers and crew members of Flight 93 in the skies over Pennsylvania.”
Anyone can nominate a person who has exhibited an act of “extraordinary” heroism or courage or put another person’s well-being above his or her own. The award winners will be selected and announced around the anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center.
Donna Gibson, president of the organization, hopes the award is used to connect teachers to the group and further develop educational materials about the Flight 93 story, which some educators say is missing from the core history curriculum across the country, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
BIDEN TO WITHDRAW TROOPS FROM AFGHANISTAN BY SEPT. 11
“The award is for things that were done in 2020, but how that ties back to 9/11 and Flight 93 and the resources that we have,” said Emily Schenkel, a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, resident whose godmother was an attendant on Flight 93. “So this is keeping that awareness and making these connections for younger people who either weren’t alive or don’t have a recollection of 9/11.”
When passengers and crew found out Flight 93 had been hijacked on Sept. 11, 2001, they were able to regain control of the aircraft but did not survive a deadly crash into Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands. A memorial now exists to commemorate their actions.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Former President George W. Bush called the incident at the time one of the most courageous acts in U.S. history, saying that the people on board prevented a devastating crash into the White House or the Capitol grounds.
