'Courage Remembered' First Lady Michelle Obama and Mrs. Laura W. Bush Keynote Ninth Annual September 11th Commemoration Honoring Heroes of Flight 93 in Shanksville, PA

SHANKSVILLE, Pa., Sept. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- First Lady Michelle Obama and former First Lady Mrs. Laura W. Bush today delivered keynote remarks to thousands gathered at a solemn commemoration ceremony that paid homage to the 40 heroic men and women of United Flight 93 while honoring all those who perished on September 11, 2001. The Flight 93 passengers and crew members lost their lives while resisting terrorists when their plane crashed into a field just outside Shanksville, PA, stopping an attack on our nation's capital. The ceremony took place at the future site of the Flight 93 National Memorial.

With progress in building the memorial as backdrop and with an American flag marking the Sacred Ground where Flight 93 crashed visible in the distance, the event was held at the Western Overlook within the memorial site. In 2001, the Western Overlook was the location of the investigative command post for Flight 93 and was the point from which the families of the passengers and crew first observed the crash site. It was also where the media reported on the crash and provided the public with the first images from the crash scene. It is the site of the temporary memorial while the permanent memorial is under construction.

Joining First Lady Obama and Mrs. Bush at the podium for this year's ninth annual commemoration were U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, who provided opening remarks and PA Governor Ed Rendell. A moving tribute was offered by Gordon W. Felt, President, Families of Flight 93, whose brother Edward was a passenger and hero. Joanne Hanley, National Park Service Superintendent for Western PA Parks, acted as mistress of ceremonies.  Also in attendance was Neil Mulholland, President and CEO of the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America's national parks including the Flight 93 National Memorial.

The event was graced by an uplifting performance of the Star Spangled Banner by the Laurel Highlands Chorale. Prayer ceremonies were led by Rev. Robert J. Way of the St. Mark Lutheran Church in Shanksville. Rev. Paul M. Britton of the Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Huntington Station, NY, whose sister Marion was a passenger and hero, offered a moment of silence. The Somerset Fire Department, one of the first responders at the crash scene, presented and posted the Colors.

As part of the commemoration, members of Families of Flight 93 read aloud each of the 40 heroes' names as mournful Bells of Remembrance tolled. Matthew Long and Laura Stutzman had the honor of tolling the bells. Long and Stutzman were students at the Shanksville-Stonycreek School on September 11, 2001.

The Flight 93 National Memorial is the only national park unit dedicated to the events of September 11, 2001. On September 24, 2002, the Flight 93 National Memorial Act became law creating a new national park and memorial dedicated to the 40 passenger and crew members of United Flight 93.  The memorial's mission is to protect and honor the mortal remains of these heroes on the Sacred Ground where the plane hit the earth. The memorial will ensure that people understand and learn about the events of the tragic day.

The memorial park sits on 2,231 acres in Somerset County, approximately 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.  It will include the crash site, debris field and extent of human remains – the final resting places of the heroes – as well as visitor facilities, infrastructure and access roadways. The memorial's first phase is expected to be dedicated by September 11, 2011.

The design by Paul Murdoch Architects of Los Angeles – a firm known for its environmental design sensitivity – was chosen in 2005 after an international competition that included more than 1,000 entries. When completed, the memorial will feature a curving arc of 40 Memorial Groves of 40 trees each along a walkway framing a Field of Honor, with a focus on the crash site. At the western end of the curving field will be an Entry Portal, approached through a clearing of trees on a black slate plaza. High walls will frame the sky of the plane's Flight Path to the crash site. Adjacent to the Flight Path will be the Visitor and Education Center. A sloped, stone wall will form the edge to the crash site within the Sacred Ground. The fields of the Sacred Ground will be planted with flowers. A white stone slab and gate, on axis with the flight path, will provide ceremonial entry to the Sacred Ground for family members.

In the future, a second phase of the design will add a 93-foot high Tower of Voices containing 40 wind chimes evocative of the last sounds that the heroes heard that day.

The cost of the first phase of the National Memorial is approximately $60 million of which $30 million will be paid for through private contributions. The balance is obtained through state and federal funds. Since 2005, more than 65,000 donors – both large and small from across the nation and around the world – have raised over $18 million. At the memorial ceremony tribute was paid to those individuals and companies whose crucial contributions are leading the way to help to make the National Memorial a reality.

More than 1.4 million people from 120 countries and all 50 states have visited the site.

For more information about the Flight 93 National Memorial, go to www.nps.gov/flni.

For more information about how to make a donation and help build the Flight 93 National Memorial, please visit www.honorflight93.org.

SOURCE National Park Foundation