This picture shows the actual crash site from closer. It was taken on the road that runs along side the site up to the temporary memorial. You can see the flag and the fence more clearly from here.

Here is the temporary memorial that has been set up until the permanent memorial is constructed. It is viewed from a position on the road next to the crash site.

At the temporary memorial, visitors were leaving personal items in honor of those innocent passengers and crew on the flight. A wall of fencing was constructed for people to hang mementos on. Here is the front of that wall.

And here is the back.

Along the edge of the paved area of the memorial is a row of 40 hand painted angels. The name of a crew member or passenger is on each one. Personal items have been left at some of them to honor that person. As you look at the angels, the crash site is in the background.

Many, many items have been left at the memorial. Here are a few placed at the base of the back of the wall.

More items left at the wall. This one appears to have been made by a child.

Several flags fly at the memorial, along with a draped cross.

Here is a plaque placed at the temporary memorial listing all the crew members and passengers.

A plaque left by a private individual, with the words purportedly spoken by Todd Beamer as they passengers charged the hijackers, hoping to get control of the cockpit. That failed, but it did force the terrorists to put the plane down in an uninhabited field, instead of the true target - most likely the Capitol building in Washington DC.

The reason the date of September 11 was chosen was supposedly because the full joint session of Congress was meeting, and the bulk of our legislators would be in the building at the time. It is possible the target was the Capitol Building, as that would seriously disrupt the entire government of the United States if all those Congressmen and Senators were lost.

A very touching poem engraved and placed at the temporary memorial.


These photos were taken on Father's Day 2006 (June 18 - also my birthday). This was my second trip to the site. On this trip, one of the local ambassadors presented a talk periodically throughout the day, outlining the events of the day. My first trip to the site was the fall before. At that time, there were very few people there, but still surprising to see any near dusk on a fall Sunday evening. That first trip was very emotional for me, realizing as I left just how many people lost their lives, but also how many more were spared due to the bravery of those ordinary people in a very extrordinary situation.