SHANKSVILLE, Pa. -- Family members wept and left mementos of their loved ones at a memorial site on the western Pennsylvania field where a hijacked jet crashed last week, apparently after several passengers decided to fight their attackers.
WTAE's Susan Koeppen reported that approximately 300 people were at the service, including first lady Laura Bush and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge.
Relatives covered a cluster of hay bales with items from candy and baseball caps to photographs and teddy bears, according to two Salvation Army officials who were present when scores of friends and relatives of the victims visited the crash site Monday. A flight attendant's jacket was also left at the memorial, located several hundred yards from where United Flight 93 crashed.
"Today I was lucky enough to over look some hallowed ground for our country," said Gordon Felt, whose brother, Edward Felt, 41, of Matawan, N.J., died in the crash.
"All we could do is be there and pray for them," said Salvation Army Maj. Ed Pritchard of Altoona, who attended a 20-minute service during the visit. Reporters were not permitted to attend.
Salvation Army Maj. Richard Zander said one of the most touching things he saw was the reaction of a Japanese woman whose son was killed. After someone pointed out to her that there were flags hanging nearby representing the backgrounds of the victims, she bowed to the Japanese flag several times, then ran back to the hay bales and picked up her son's photo.
"She was calling out his name. She was in tears," Zander said.
A clergy member told the sobbing family members to remember the words of Winston Churchill, "Never give up." When the service was over, "It was like they wanted to linger there," Zander said.
State police troopers standing and on horseback saluted as a caravan of six buses carrying the victims' families, followed by a line of emergency rescue vehicles and police cruisers, arrived about 1:15 p.m. at the rural field about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. As the buses left just before 3 p.m., some inside flashed the "V" sign to onlookers, while others acknowledged Red Cross officials with a wave and others held American flags.
Mrs. Bush was among the dignitaries to attend a second memorial service, held under a large white tent on a golf course about four miles from the crash site. At each end of the tent were placed vials of soil from the spot where the plane crashed for family members to take home.
"One of last Tuesday's victims, in his final message to his family, said that he loved them and that he would see them again," she told the 300 people present. "You grieve today, and the hurt will not soon go away. But that hope is real, and it's forever, just as the love you share with your loved ones is forever."
The plane, which government officials suspect the hijackers intended for a high-profile target in Washington, was the fourth to crash in a coordinated terrorist attack that killed thousands, and the only one that didn't take lives on the ground.
The Boeing 757 was headed from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco when it made an abrupt turn near Cleveland and veered back east across Pennsylvania before crashing in Shanksville, killing all 44 aboard.
Gov. Tom Ridge returned to the site for a third time and spoke at the memorial service. "We hope that the families and loved ones can, in some way, find peace and comfort knowing that all of us in attendance, citizens of Pennsylvania and those across the country share in their sorrow," he said.
A number of passengers made phone calls from the jet before it crashed. Among those, several said they planned to take action against their hijackers.
"They banded together and fought back against their captors. They saved hundreds, perhaps thousands of lives," Gov. Tom Ridge said at the service. "Thank God for their lives, their families and their heroism."
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., has suggested posthumously awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to passengers aboard the flight. The medal is the nation's highest civilian honor.
More than 5,000 people were killed or missing following coordinated attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
United Airlines said that about 240 family members of 27 Flight 93 victims were staying at Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Champion, about 20 miles west of the crash site.
Previous Local Stories:Sept. 16, 2001: 'Let's Roll,' Flight 93 Victim Heard To Say Before CrashSept. 15, 2001: FBI Explains Other Planes At Crash, Local Rescue Team Returns From NYC, Steelers Among Crowd At VigilSept. 14, 2001:Second Black Box Found At Somerset Site; Governor Leads VigilSept. 13, 2001:Flight 93 Data Recorder FoundSept. 12, 2001:Alleged Partial Flight 93 Cockpit Transcript Obtained FBI Searches New Castle Apartment Pittsburgh International Airport Revamping Security FBI Interested In Local Townhouse, Car Westmoreland County Man Among Crash Victims Munhall Woman's Brother Calls From WTC RubbleSept. 11, 2001:Plane Crashes In Somerset County Flight 93 Passenger Said He Planned Action Cities Knew Plane Was Coming, But Not Where Tearful Ridge Promises Help From Pa. State Watches, Reacts As Attacks Unfold Copyright 2007 by ThePittsburghChannel. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
