Posted on 09/19/2001 10:26:54 AM PDT by Doctor Freeze
September 18, 2001 — Family members of United Flight 93 started arriving in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on Monday to visit the place where their loved ones perished. As their buses wended through the small town toward the site, dozens of Pennsylvania State Troopers lined the roads in a salute to honor the families.
The PA State Trooper Commissioner, Paul J. Evanko, said that his force had specifically asked for permission to show their support with a salute. They empathize with the suffering of those who lost loved ones in the attack, he said, not only because they have families of their own, but because they are Americans. A few days before the state troopers, school children holding small American flags lined the same roads.
The salute was the first in a series of compassionate gestures. When the family members stepped off of the buses at the crash site, they were each handed a single white rose by Red Cross volunteers. "The roses were received with surprise, gratitude and tears," said Lisa Taylor, Assistant Mental Health Officer at the site and 8-year Red Cross volunteer.
"Visiting the crash site will help bring closure to the families," Taylor said. "To see the place where their loved ones lost their lives gives them some peace. They leave thinking, 'Ok, I've seen the place, I know what it's like.' That makes them feel better, and allows them to begin healing."
The crash site itself is secured as the investigation continues, but family members were allowed to walk to a ridge overlooking the soot-rimmed crater and V-shaped gash the aircraft left in an open field of a reclaimed strip mine. As they approached the ridge and looked down, about 200 to 300 workers immediately stopped what they were doing and stood at attention while the families examined the crash site.
Family members were allowed to walk to a ridge overlooking the crash site.
"I think it is a great comfort to the families to see so many people working on the site, and to see them handling their jobs with an enormous amount of respect for those who died in the crash," Taylor said.
She said that the families stood at the rim in silence. Some sobbed quietly while others looked out over a quaint farm and the rolling mountains of Central Pennsylvania. "It was a cloudless, Indian Summer day with a warm breeze," Taylor said. "The farm and mountain vistas created a beautiful, peaceful scene that I'm sure was a comfort to them."
FBI investigators were on hand to answer any questions the family members might have. Some wanted to know about the progress they'd made in identifying the passengers and crew. "The investigators said they'd made some progress, but assured the families that they would never give up," Taylor said. "I think that was very reassuring to hear -- that each and every person on board would be identified, either through dental records, fingerprints or DNA."
There were five Red Cross mental health counselors on the scene to offer grief counseling and support to the families. According to Taylor, the most important role of the counselors is that of listener. "They are subdued in grief right now, but when they are ready to talk, the best thing we can do is encourage them to express their thoughts and to listen," she said. "An attentive ear and a supportive pat on the back are so much more important than any words we can say."
The mental health counselors are also on hand for the weary Red Cross volunteers and federal workers and investigators who have worked tirelessly at the site for six days. "They haven't seen the family members until now, they've only imagined the enormous suffering but now have seen firsthand the pain on the family members' faces," Taylor said. "Many of the workers have been deeply affected."
Buoying the spirits of all of the volunteers was American Red Cross President and CEO Dr. Bernadine Healy. Dr. Healy visited the crash site to talk with the families and volunteers and attended a 3:00 p.m. memorial service for the victims of United Flight 93 on the shores of Indian Lake in Somerset County.
"Dr. Healy thanked all of our volunteers for their hard work. Her visit did wonders for our morale," Taylor said. "I told her I was so happy that she was here and she said simply that she could never not have come."
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