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Groundbreaking Held For Flight 93 Memorial

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Nov 7, 2009 8:24 pm US/Eastern

Groundbreaking Held For Flight 93 Memorial

SHANKSVILLE (KDKA) ― Ground was broken today in Somerset County for construction on a permanent memorial to the 40 passengers and crew members who died aboard United Flight 93 on September 11th, 2001.

Quoting the now-famous last words of passenger Todd Beamer, United States Interior Secretary Ken Salazar turned over the first shovel of dirt for the new national monument near Shanksville.

Beamer was one of the passengers who fought against the terrorists aboard Flight 93 eight years ago.

"The majority courageously voted to strike back at the terrorists that day, before they could use the airplane as a weapon against others," said Salazar.

Gov. Ed Rendell calls the Flight 93 monument a teaching memorial.

"A memorial that teaches Americans and others from around the world what happened, on Flight 93," said Rendell. "The heroism of ordinary citizens, most of whom - like all of us when we get on an airplane - didn't know each other, had never met, never said hello, and yet they were bonded by a sense of urgency into action that changed the history of the world."

Gordon Felt, of Families of Flight 93, lost his brother, Robert, when the plane went down.

"This September 11th will have a permanent impact on the families and our country," said Felt. "But, it is projects like this that give us hope for the future - when you can memorialize 40 unique individuals, whose brave actions presumably helped save the Capitol building from destruction."

The first phase of the memorial preserves the crash site, known as a sacred ground, and it establishes a field of honor.

"We've designed a memorial landscape for visitors to move through, to appreciate what occurred here, to appreciate the final resting place, and really, the special spirit that's here from those 40 people," said Paul Murdoch, the monument architect.

The National Parks Foundation raised $15 million in private and public funds to get to this day, and it still needs millions more to complete all three phases of the monument.

But the first phase of the project is expected to be finished in time for the 10 year anniversary of the attacks in 2011.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.