A National Park

Barely one year after 9/11, in an unusual and unprecedented show of government support, the Flight 93 National Memorial Act was passed designating the crash site near Shanksville, Pennsylvania as a national memorial and appointing the National Park Service as its steward. It is the only national park commemorating the events of September 11, 2001.

The Flight 93 National Memorial, encompassing the final resting place of the 40 passengers and crewmembers, will be the nation’s permanent tribute to the heroism of those aboard whose incredible acts of bravery saved countless lives at the cost of their own.  Consisting of many complementary parts, the memorial will be unified across a vast landscape, transforming what was once a common field into a “Field of Honor.”

The Memorial will be the centerpiece of a large and expansive 2,220-acre park. Much of the park was once a surface mine where the search for coal scarred the landscape and removed tons of soil and depleted old-growth forests. A new park will reclaim this land and renew the area around the memorial through reforestation, pond rehabilitation, and planting of thousands of wildflowers and natural grasses.

In 2005, following a yearlong international competition comprising over 1,000 submissions, a jury consisting of project partners and industry professionals selected the “Circle of Embrace” by Paul Murdoch Architects as the winning design for the Memorial. 

The creation of the Flight 93 National Memorial is an historic opportunity to honor the citizen heroes and to share the story of their courage. It is a monument to the very best of American character, a place where future generations can come to learn about how the actions of a few people can make a profound and lasting difference.