The Roarbots’ series of NPS Adventures takes a big-picture view of one location within the National Park Service and highlights some of the best activities that site has to offer. This is usually done through a kid-friendly lens and almost always includes activities and suggestions we can recommend from personal experience. And pictures. There are lots and lots of pictures. Glad to have you aboard!

Welcome to Flight 93 National Memorial!

Stats

• Flight 93 National Memorial
• Location: Pennsylvania
• Established: 2002
• Admission: Free
• Social Sites: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube

September 11, 2001, is a date that needs no explanation. If you were alive, you know what happened on that day. Whether or not we were directly affected by the events of that day, we were all affected by the events of that day. Like Kennedy’s assassination and the Challenger explosion, it’s a day that everyone can remember – where they were, what they were doing, and what they did next.

All too often, however, the events of September 11 (as they’re taught to our kids or consecrated in the public’s memory) includes the World Trade Center and Pentagon only. The fourth plane – United 93, which crashed in a field in Somerset County, PA – is relegated to an afterthought.

Flight 93 National Memorial, then, is a permanent testament to the bravery of those on board and the national tragedy we all experienced that day. It’s also the most emotionally tumultuous NPS site we’ve ever visited. (I’m actually hard pressed to think of another that would be more emotionally compromising.)

(Click on all pictures to embiggen.)

Visitor Center

Although Congress designated the crash site a National Memorial in 2002, the visitor center didn’t officially open until 2015. Today, it houses a remarkably powerful exhibit and an overlook of the flight path and crash site.

I’d recommend spending at least an hour in the exhibit, which tells the story of 9/11 and Flight 93 through photos, videos, memories, and artifacts. By far, the most affecting of those “artifacts” are the voicemail messages left by the passengers aboard the plane – people who realized what was happening and what would happen next, people who knew they were making their final calls.

Memorial Plaza and Crash Site

The memorial plaza is a one-mile drive from the visitor center, but it’s also reachable via a 1.7-mile circular walkway that takes you by 40 memorial groves, each planted with 40 trees native to Pennsylvania. Within the plaza is the Wall of Names and a boulder marking the actual impact site. The Wall of Names is the most prominent feature of the plaza. Though it looks like a solid wall from a distance, it’s actually made of 40 polished marble panels, each engraved with one of the names of the crew and passengers of Flight 93.

The folded wall is positioned along the flight path and ends at a ceremonial gate made of hand-hewn pine. In the field beyond is the impact site (off limits to the public), marked with a native sandstone boulder.

Though the memorial is a somber place honoring the deaths of 40 Americans, it’s still awash with life. The day we visited, the 1,200-foot walkway leading from the parking lot to the Wall of Names was crawling with teeny tiny salamanders. I’m not sure if they’re year-round residents, but please do watch your step. They’re incredibly tiny, and they’re everywhere.

Junior Ranger

Like most NPS sites, Flight 93 has a park-centric Junior Ranger program. Unlike other NPS site, which preserve history of a much more “distant” nature, the events memorialized at Flight 93 are relatively recent, and the aftereffects are still current events. With that in mind, the Junior Ranger program has to walk a fine line and present the events and issues in a sensitive way for young children. And it does a great job. The standard Junior Ranger packed is intended for kids 6-13, but they’ve also put together a “less complicated narrative of the Flight 93 story” in an effort to help even younger kids understand what happened. Ask for it at the visitor center if you’re interested.