Flight 93 National Memorial - Temporary Memorial

Temporary Memorial

The site of the crash was enclosed by a fence and was closed to the public except for victims' family members. The temporary memorial was located on a hillside 500 yards (460 m) from the crash site. The memorial included a 40-foot (to commemorate the 40 passengers and crew) chain-link fence on which visitors can leave flowers, flags, hats, rosaries, and other items. The items were collected by the National Park Service.

Many cities wanted to memorialize the heroes of United Flight 93. Among the first was Marshall, Texas which by order of the City Commission, named "United Flight 93" a street in early 2002. The keynote speaker was Barbara Catuzzi, the mother of victim Lauren Grandcolas.

Next to the fence were several memorials such as a bronze plaque of names, flags, and a large cross. The temporary memorial also included a row of small wooden angels, one for each passenger or crew member. There were also handwritten messages on the guardrails at the memorial. At the memorial site, there was also a small building where visitors could sign a guestbook. The building was staffed by National Park Service volunteers, called ambassadors, who answered questions. In the years following the attacks, approximately 150,000 visitors each year came to the memorial site, a number that reached "nearly a million people" as of July 2008.

The temporary memorial, for years on land leased for the memorial by Svonavec, Inc. (a coal company based in Somerset, Pennsylvania), was moved in 2008 because Svonavec said they would not renew the lease. It was moved across the road, on land that is part of about 900 acres (360 ha) that the Families of Flight 93 foundation bought in 2008. In August 2009, it was announced that Svonavec agreed to sell the land based on a price determined by the courts.