Almost 17 years after the 9/11 attacks, a monument in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, was erected to commemorate the victims of the fourth hijacked plane, United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania after its passengers and crew fought back against a group of terrorists. The 93-foot-tall tower of wind chimes, named "The Tower of Voices," was unveiled on Sunday as the final feature of Flight 93's 2,200-acre memorial, reported Associated Press. The steel monument was built to remember the 40 heroes who perished after their plane, which was traveling from New Jersey to California, was hijacked the morning of September 11, 2001. According to the National Park Foundation, which financed the project, the monument's purpose is "to create a set of 40 tones that can signify through consonance the serenity and nobility of the site, while also through dissonance, recalling the event that consecrated the site." The monument is 93 feet tall, to coincide with Flight 93, and features dozens of windchimes, each representing one person aboard the flight and radiating its own unique sound. "Together their voices will ring out into perpetuity, with this beautiful Somerset County, Pennsylvania wind," said Stephen Clark, the park's superintendent, reported USA Today. On September 11, 2001, four hijackers took the cockpit almost an hour into the flight with the intent of striking the White House. As the airplane cruised above Pennsylvania, the passengers and crew heroically attempted to reclaim the plane and thwart the terrorists' mission. "When they learned that, it galvanized them as a group," Clark said. "They said, 'We're not going back to any airport. This is a suicide mission.'" After formulating a plan, the hostages stormed the cockpit where the hijackers were navigating the aircraft. A tussle broke out, which resulted in the plane crashing into a field below. Paul Murdoch, the architect who created The Tower of Voices, said his vision was to celebrate their voices. "We wanted to do, I'll call it a living memorial in sound, because the last memories of many of the people on the plane were through their voices on phone calls," he said. "And we wanted to use the natural forces of the site to activate the chimes." President Donald Trump is scheduled to arrive in Shanksville on Tuesday to attend the 17th- anniversary event. He will be joined by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.<doc-sep>A memorial opened on Sunday, dedicated to passengers and crew killed when a hijacked plane was crashed into a rural Pennsylvania field on September 11, 2001. The Tower of Voices stands 93 feet tall and includes a unique wind chime for each of the 40 who died in the crash. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge said at the dedication the chimes in the tower will provide "an everlasting concert by our heroes." SHANKSVILLE, Pa. (AP) — A tower that honors the passengers and crew killed when a hijacked plane was crashed into a rural Pennsylvania field is now in place, the final major feature of a 2,200-acre memorial. The Tower of Voices was dedicated Sunday, with remarks from former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge and the park's superintendent. The wind chimes inside the Tower of Voices. bioLinia and Paul Murdoch Architects via National Park Service The 93-foot structure at the Flight 93 memorial north of Shanksville is designed with a wind chime for each of the 40 who died on Sept. 11, 2001. Ridge, who became the first head of the federal Homeland Security Department, said the chimes, each of which is tuned and positioned to give it a distinct sound, will provide "an everlasting concert by our heroes." Three other hijacked planes were crashed into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon. Nearly 3,000 people died in the attack. People attending the dedication stand around the 93-foot tall Tower of Voices on Sunday, Sept. 9, 2018 at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pa. AP Photo/Keith Srakocic President Donald Trump is expected to attend the 17th anniversary event at the Pennsylvania site on Tuesday. The Flight 93 National Memorial north of Shanksville already includes a memorial plaza, dedicated on the 10th anniversary in 2011, and a visitor's center that opened three years ago.<doc-sep>The events of September 11, 2001, in the United States are simply called 9/11. On that bright, clear morning 17 years ago, Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four large passenger airplanes to use as missiles of war. All four planes were flying across the country to California with a full tank of fuel. None of them made it. Flight 11 was the first to take off. It did so in Boston, Massachusetts, at 7:59 in the morning. Forty-seven minutes later, it crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. Flight 175 also took off from Boston and crashed into the South Tower minutes after Flight 11. In Washington D.C., Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon after takeoff. Twenty-six minutes later, Flight 93 crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania. By 10:03 that morning, the Al-Qaeda planes operation had caused severe destruction. All airline traffic had stopped in the United States. By the end of the day, 2,996 people lost their lives. The crash sites are memorialized in New York and Washington, D.C. The Flight 93 Memorial in the rural hills near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, is a national park. It was used to mine surface coal until 1995. The Flight 93 Memorial Visitor Center tells the story of the events on Flight 93. The plane took off with 37 passengers -- including the four hijackers -- as well as seven crew members. As it flew west toward Cleveland, Ohio, the hijackers broke into the cockpit and injured the pilot and first officer. An air traffic controller in Cleveland heard the shouts. The hijackers had gained control of the plane. They tried to announce to the passengers that there was a bomb on the plane and that they were returning to the airport. But they mistakenly made that announcement to the air traffic control center instead. The plane then turned around in the skies over Cleveland. Investigators later found evidence that the plane was going toward Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The passengers and crew members were forced to the back of the plane by the hijackers. With in-flight and mobile phones, passengers began calling officials and family members. In all, 37 calls were made. Through those calls, the passengers and crew learned of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. They understood that their plane was also on a suicide mission. Crew member CeeCee Lyles called her husband with a message. Hi, baby. I’m, baby, you have to listen to me carefully. I’m on a plane that’s been hijacked. I just want to tell you I love you. Please tell my children that I love them very much. There’s three guys, they’ve hijacked the plane. I’m trying to be calm, we’re turned around and I heard that there’s planes that’s been flown into the World Trade Center. I hope to be able to see your face again, baby. I love you, bye. In the back of the plane, the passengers and crew members discussed the situation. They took a vote and decided to act. They decided to fight back. They ran into the cockpit to stop the hijackers. The plane went off its path over rural Pennsylvania. It rocked back and forth and rolled over. Moments later, at 906 kilometers an hour, it crashed into an open field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The force of the crash created a huge crater about 4 and a half meters deep and nine meters across. If the plane had kept its speed and flight path, it would have arrived in Washington, D.C. in less than 20 minutes. Next to the Visitor Center, the memorial has a walking path. The path is built to look like Flight 93’s own unplanned flight path. The path lets visitors look down into the crash site. It is a quiet and reflective place. Here, visitors learn that about 1,000 people from more than 70 agencies worked day and night to collect and examine evidence and personal belongings. After the evidence was gathered, the soil was returned to the land. Grass and wildflowers were planted in what is now sacred ground. Visitors walk through tree groves on the way to the Memorial Plaza. There are 40 groves of 40 hemlock trees. The number 40 is meaningful. It represents the number of passengers and crew members on Flight 93. On the far end of the plaza is the Wall of Names. It is a simple white wall that contains 40 pieces of marble. Each marble has the name of a passenger or crew member. The memorial was finally completed on Sunday with the opening of the Tower of Voices. It is a 28-meter-tall musical instrument that will hold 40 wind chimes. Each chime produces an individual sound. The music it creates is a reminder of the struggle and bravery of the 40 people who brought down Flight 93 in an empty, rural field. Their actions helped save many lives. I’m Dorothy Gundy. Dorothy Gundy reported on this story and produced the video for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story bright - adj. filled with light surface – n. the upper layer of an area of land or water cockpit – n. the area in an airplane where the pilot sits rocked – v. to move something back and forth or from side to side crater – n. a large round hole in the ground made by something falling from the sky reflective – adj. thinking carefully about something sacred – adj. highly valued and important: deserving great respect grove - n. a small group of trees marble – n. a stone that is often polished and used in buildings and statues wind chimes – n. a collection of objects made from metal, glass, etc. that hang together from strings and touch each other to make a musical sound when they are blown by the wind<doc-sep>
Follow KDKA-TV: Facebook | Twitter SHANKSVILLE, Pa. (AP) — The heroism of airline passengers and crew who died when hijackers crashed their plane into a Pennsylvania field was remembered Sunday with the dedication of a concrete-and-steel tower that will ring with wind chimes for every one of them at the spot where they fell to earth. Relatives of the 40 people killed during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, helped ring eight of what will eventually be 40 aluminum chimes at the Flight 93 National Memorial site, and former Gov. Tom Ridge said the Tower of Voices will be “an everlasting concert by our heroes.” The dedication occurred nearly 17 years after passengers on the hijacked flight from New Jersey to California fought back against a band of terrorists who then crashed the jetliner into a rural field. Officials concluded the terrorists were aiming the Boeing 757 toward Washington, to be used as an enormous airborne weapon. It was “the day that lives were lost so that other lives were saved. And heroes were made over the skies of Shanksville,” said Ridge, who served as the first secretary of the Homeland Security Department when it was created after 9/11. The roughly 93-foot (28-meter) structure represents the final phase of the Flight 93 National Memorial. Each chime generates a distinctive sound, and rows of trees that ring the site symbolize sound waves. “Together their voices will ring out into perpetuity, with this beautiful Somerset County, Pennsylvania, wind,” park Superintendent Stephen Clark said. The national park at a the crash site, about 2 miles (3 kilometers) north of Shanksville, also includes a memorial plaza, dedicated on the 10th anniversary in 2011, and a visitor’s center that opened three years ago. As a cold, driving rain pelted the hills, memorial architect Paul Murdoch spoke of the plan, which uses the wind to activate the chimes. The remaining chimes are expected to be installed in the coming weeks. “These chimes respond to unanswered cries of voices not spoken again, but remembered in the vibrations of a monumental tower,” Murdoch said. They range from 5 to 10 feet (1.5 to 3 meters) long, weigh as much as 150 pounds (68 kilograms) and are tuned. Nearly 3,000 people died in the Sept. 11 attacks, when terrorists seized control of four planes. They flew two of them into the World Trade Center skyscrapers in New York and the fourth into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. “These guys are the real heroes,” said retired truck driver Stefan Robbins, visiting the memorial from Lexington, Kentucky. “They didn’t sign up — they’re not a cop, they’re not a firefighter.” The Flight 93 passengers learned in mid-flight they had been hijacked and responded heroically, declaring “let’s roll” as they confronted their adversaries inside the plane. Thirteen passengers on the plane made a combined 37 phone calls during the attack, getting information about the other three hijackings and crashes. “When they learned that, it galvanized them as a group,” Clark said. “They said, ‘We’re not going back to any airport. This is a suicide mission. '” As some passengers apparently tried to storm the cabin, the hijacker at the controls then rolled the plane, trying to throw them off balance, before the aircraft became inverted and crashed at 563 mph (906 kph) on the edge of a reclaimed strip mine at 10:30 a.m. The impact ignited about 100 hemlock trees. Hemlocks are used as symbols throughout the memorial’s design, including the tower. A 17-ton (15-metric ton) sandstone marks the impact site, located within a 44-acre (17.8-hectare) fenced-off area of the field where crash debris landed, referred to as the “sacred ground.” Access to that part of the park is limited to family members of the passengers and crew. Four 40-foot (12.2-meter) containers of remaining debris from the crashed airplane were buried there during a private ceremony on June 21. The memorial was funded with $46 million from 110,000 private donors, including $6 million to design and build the Tower of Voices. Volunteers are well on their way to the goal of planting 150,000 seedlings around the 2,200 acre (890 hectare) park. It attracted about 400,000 visitors last year. The dedication comes two days before the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. President Donald Trump is expected to attend that memorial ceremony Tuesday in Shanksville, along with Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.