As another 9/11 nears, memorial needs cash

STONYCREEK, Pa. — The first groves of young trees are growing here now, beginning to encircle the wildflower-studded field where the 40 passengers and crew members aboard Flight 93 died during the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001.

Since April, volunteers and National Park Service workers have planted 25 of the planned 40 groves of native species such as white pine, quaking aspen and American chestnut trees, each grove dedicated to one of the people lost in the crash. The remaining groves will follow next spring, when organizers of the effort to build the Flight 93 National Memorial also want to break ground on the visitors center and learning center, as well as a 93-foot Tower of Voices that includes 40 chimes — like the groves, one for each victim.

Before the learning center and tower can be built, however, organizers must raise an additional $5 million. The Flight 93 memorial is the only one of the three major 9/11 memorials that has not been fully funded.

“We’re on target, we’re on time and with their help, we’ve stayed pretty much with the plan,” said Patrick White, president of Families of Flight 93, said of donors. “It has taken some perseverance.”

Americans should learn the story of what happened in Stonycreek, Somerset County, said Jerry Bingham, whose son, Mark, died there.

After passengers and crew members discovered that terrorists had crashed three planes in New York and in Washington, D.C., they rushed the cockpit

and struggled to regain control of the plane and thwart another attack. The hijackers then forced the plane down, flying it upside down at 563 mph just over the hill where the visitor’s center and learning center will be built, and crashing it into a field nearby.

“It’s important to tell the story of Flight 93,” Mr. Bingham said. “Any one of us could have been on that plane.”

More than 100,000 individuals, organizations and corporations have donated funds for creation of the memorial, raising $5 million of the $10 million needed for further construction since the site was dedicated last Sept. 11, the 10th anniversary of the attacks.

The first phase of the project — a white marble wall inscribed with names of the victims, a black slate pathway and wall, and a wooden gate allowing families access to the crash site — was completed in time for last year’s dedication. But the second phase, including the learning center and the tower, needs additional funding, Mr. White said. Organizers would like to request bids on the work in March so they can break ground next year, and finish the memorial by September 2016.

“The only thing that’s a question in there is that we can’t go to bid without the money in hand,” said Mr. White, whose cousin, Louis J. Nacke II, was among the passengers who tried to wrest control of the plane back from the four terrorists who had hijacked it.

Leaders of the Alcoa Foundation pledged $255,000 to the project this week and said they would match all private donations given by Oct. 1. The effort to build the memorial has won high-profile supporters, including appearances by former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton and House Speaker John Boehner at a Washington, D.C., fundraiser earlier this year.

Beginning today, this year’s annual events commemorating the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks will see appearances by Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta on Monday and Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday. All events are free and open to the public.

Tuesday’s Sept. 11 event, which begins at 9:30 a.m., includes a silent moment of remembrance at 10:03 a.m. — the moment Flight 93 crashed — as well as a reading of the passengers’ and crew members’ names, ringing of bells of remembrance by members of the Families of Flight 93 and community members who assisted after the crash, and laying a wreath at the Wall of Names in addition to remarks by Mr. Biden, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Mr. White.

The site opens at 7 a.m., and visitors are advised to arrive two hours early to park and pass through security. Backpacks and large bags are not permitted. There will be no seating during the 30-minute ceremony and guests are allowed to bring their own chairs. On-site shuttle parking will be provided. The site will be open late all four nights so visitors can experience the lighted memorial, including Monday night’s luminaria ceremony.