by Kaitlyn Hughes | features editor
The sun shined bright as audience members gathered in front of the Wall of Names at the Flight 93 Memorial.
A reading of the names of the seven crew members and 33 passengers was led by Matthew LeBlanc, a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines and volunteer ambassador. He was joined by family members who traveled to the site to recite the names of their loved ones.
The Sept. 11, Moment of Remembrance took place on Wednesday morning in Shanksville.
Participation in this event allows the country to keep the promise of never forgetting the 2,977 lives lost in the largest international terrorist attack on American soil, said Stephen Clark, superintendent of the national parks of Western Pennsylvania.
“We come here to remember them and to commemorate the actions of 40 of those people whose collective efforts that morning saved countless lives,” Clark said at the memorial service. “At this time, 23 years ago, the 40 passengers and crew members of Flight 93 made a decision that would change our world forever.”
The bells of remembrance, a pair of bells small and large, rang out after each name was read.
The ceremony was concluded with an interfaith mediation of closure, healing and peace given by Dan Lawrence.
After first viewing the crash site he has sought to do what is right and do good for others, said Lawrence.
“As I stand here with all of you today at this Flight 93 Memorial, overlooking the crash site, I’m reminded of those things,” Lawrence said to the crowd. “I put before you today as a meditation and a challenge to do the same. Today is the day. Tomorrow may never come.”
President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump all made an appearance at the memorial to show their respects later in the day.