Yesterday on our way from Washington DC to Pittsburgh we stopped at the United Flight 93 crash site.  I was somewhat unprepared for my reaction.  We had been to numerous memorials in the past few days; Marine Corps, Air Force, World War II, etc. and other than a solemn moment or two that was about the extent of my emotion.  I have to be honest the one I can’t go to is Vietnam.  I went once about a year after it was finished and did not react well so I avoid it now.  The Flight 93 site moved me to tears.  There in the middle of a field is an American flag.  You can’t get very close now.  For the time being you have to settle on being in the designated area they have which overlooks the site.  The current memorial is very “homegrown” and comes from the heart of the people who have come by.  The things left at the site range from a cross, a pack of bubblegum, toys, wreaths, and the most moving to me a fireman’s jacket from the local fire department.  I have no pictures, in my mind’s eye it felt like taking photos would desecrate the site.

There are plans for a more glorious memorial and we will contribute to it.  This is a memory that should not be forgotten.  As Eileen said, and I agree, this really was fighting the war on terrorism.  We should all remember that all the rights and privileges we have should not be taken for granted and they are everyone’s responsibility.