Moose
Efforts To Support National Memorial Recognized at Sept.
11 Flight 93 Commemoration--and Nov. 7 Groundbreaking |
SHANKSVILLE, PA, Sept. 11 and Nov. 7
-- U.S. Secretary of the Interior Kenneth Salazar (second from
right) gratefully recognized the contributions of the Moose organization
during ceremonies here Friday morning observing the eighth anniversary
of the terrorist attacks on America on Sept. 11, 2001.
Salazar personally thanked Past Supreme Governor Eugene Huggins
(left, back to camera) and Moose International Director General/CEO
William B. Airey (second from left). At right, making introductions,
was Joanne Hanley, Superintendent of the Flight 93 National
Memorial for the National Park Service.
Huggins and Airey had been invited to the observance at the
site of the Flight 93 National Memorial, the 1,400-acre site
under development near Shanksville in Somerset County as a
permanent monument to the 40 heroes of United Airlines Flight
93.
 Eight weeks after the Sept. 11 commemoration, on Saturday,
Nov. 7, the Moose fraternity was represented again, as officials
from the National Park Service and families of the 40 passengers
and crew members lost on Flight 93 conducted a formal groundbreaking
for the National Memorial. Participating was Gary Jacobs (left),
President of District 2 of the Virginia Moose Association,
who shared a ceremonial shovel with Superintendent Hanley (right).
The first phase of the Memorial is slated for dedication on
Sept. 11, 2011.
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, those 40 heroes -- seven
crew members and 33 passengers -- mobilized and organized to
fight back against Flight 93's four hijackers, who had commandeered
the Newark-to-San-Francisco flight with the intent of crashing
it in central Washington DC, into either the U.S. Capitol or
the White House. As a result of the struggle in the cockpit,
the hijackers abortively crashed the craft into the Somerset
County field. There were no survivors--but no one on the ground
was hurt.
In 2006, Moose members began a campaign to raise funds to
help build and support the Flight 93 National Memorial. By
June 2007, the total raised by Moose efforts was more than
$420,000; to date the total amount is nearing $600,000. This
amount is considerably more raised toward the Memorial than
by any other fraternal or service organization.
In late 2007, Director General Airey was
named to the Flight 93 National Memorial Steering Committee.
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