A Day In History That Should Not Have Been

Nine years ago today, 4 planes destroyed many lives in our country, by attacking the World Trade Center towers in New York City, the Pentagon and Flight 93, hijacked and headed towards Washington D.C., which ended up crashing in a field in Western Pennsylvania near the city of Shanksville.

I think every person in America who was old enough to have recollections, remembers this horrible day and the days and months that followed. Live images streamed across the television, of people fleeing collapsing buildings, their faces reflecting the fear and horror of what they saw and what they were experiencing. Dazed and rushing down streets covered with ash, which was pulverized building facades and glass, shreds of paper from someone’s desk fluttering in the air. Brave firefighters rushing towards the remains of the buildings, past those who were running away from there as fast as they could. Images of tired rescue workers, overjoyed and renewed with vigor when they were able to pull someone out of the ruble alive and the sorrow and despair when they didn’t. They to lost many of their own, as buildings swayed and crashed to the ground, firefighters who had rushed in before the total collapse of stairwells in an attempt to get people out safely.

As days turned into weeks and then into months, work continued, loved ones began making makeshift memorials on the streets of New York. Windows of storefronts became billboards of pictures, plastered with taped on photographs of missing people, with messages of please call me and a number scribbled along the bottom, by friends and relatives trying to locate them.

Over at the Pentagon, a plane dives into the building, killing and trapping many and others attempting to rescue fellow servicemen and determine the damage. The scene there doesn’t appear to be as chaotic, but of course the plane is almost totally engulfed by the building so little can really be seen.It is days after, as the gaping hole in the building is seen are we aware of the damage that was truly done.

Shortly thereafter the heroics of the passengers on Flight 93 begin to filter across the newscast airways. How they somehow managed to get cell phone messages to and from loved ones. They learned of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. They in turn letting their loved ones know that their plane had also been hijacked and their own fate was precariously hanging in the balance. As the plane changed course heading towards Washington DC, now a group of passengers planned to “do something” to overpower the hijackers and take control back of the plane. As we all know, part of their plan worked, they were able to stop the aircraft from making it to the intended target, most likely our nation’s capitol, but the plane went down with 33 passengers, 7 crew members and 4 hijackers aboard. The nose of the plane burrowing deep into the ground.

Today, the memorial at the Pentagon is completed and the memorial at Ground Zero in New York City where the Twin Towers once stood is well under way. But what about the memorial in Shanksville? According to CBS channel 3 in PA, this memorial is far from finished. In fact it is still at phase one! To read the entire article, click here.

The National Park Foundation states that they need an additional $18 million to complete the project. Why is it that this memorial isn’t receiving the funding and recognition of that fateful day the way that the Pentagon and Twin Towers are remembered? Is it because there were only 44 people killed in that incident versus the thousands in New York and the high profile of the Pentagon attack, where 58 passengers and 128 military staff lost their lives?

There are several websites that can be visited at the bottom of the CBS Channel 3 article, where money can be donated to the Flight 93 memorial fund.

There is site of a jeweler who is creating commemorative lapel pins and they only cost $10 and every cent goes to the memorial fund.

There is a link to the LeRoy J. Homer organization. He was the plane’s co-pilot and this organization was set up by his wife Melodie .This foundation assists students with scholarships who want to attend pilot’s school.

You can also donate directly to the Flight 93 Memorial fund by going to their website.
As we remember and reflect on this sad day in our history, lets also remember how we joined together in unity as a nation, to help heal the wounds and honor those perished in this tragedy. Let us remember each and every life that was lost that day. Please help with the necessary funds to complete the Memorial for Flight 93. Don’t let these brave souls be the forgotten heroes of 9/11.

Getting Ready For Another Blog

Well folks, I am in the process of setting up another blog which will be to help those who are wanting to trace their family roots!
I will teach you how to develop your family tree, good places to do research on the web and how to interview your living relatives to gather information but I want to actually encourage you to do more than just list important data on a piece of paper or into a GEDCOM file on your computer.

My goal is to help bring your past history alive for you and for all the generations of your family who are yet to come! Your ancestors may be dead, buried in the ground, but they will become alive through you and the living history that you create! Genealogy and history go hand in hand and opens up an entire new appreciation for what your ancestors did to be brave enough to leave their homeland to venture forth to a new country.  In some cases, they were forced to leave and come here, many were forced into servitude. 


So get ready, get a notebook and a pen or pencil handy because we are about to start soon!  If you would like to be notified when this new blog is ready, please leave me a message at the end of this post and be sure to include your name and your email address so I may contact you.

The 4th of July Birth of a Nation

Happy Birthday America!

Tomorrow everyone will be pulling out all the stops to have a big holiday celebration!

Many will load the family into the car for a day at the beach or perhaps a state park while others of us will stay at home and just have a family get-together with a bar-b-q in the back yard. Many cities will celebrate with parades during the day and at night the skies will be filled with the booms and flashes of fireworks displays.

I hope each and every one of us will also take time to really reflect back to the year of 1776 when this nation was officially born and our forefathers officially signed the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America. Can you believe that this country has stood for 223 years as a symbol of freedom, democracy and equality for all of our citizens?

I can remember in school that we had to learn the Preamble of the Constitution and be able to recite it verbatim in front of the class in our American History Class. One of the students asked the teacher why it was so important that we know this and why was American history so important anyway, it was all about things in the past and all the people were dead! I will never forget her response to that student. She told him that it was important that you know your roots not only of your family but of your country. You need to know what trials and tribulations your forefathers went through in order for you to appreciate the freedoms that you now have in your life. You need to know the mistakes as well as the accomplishments of your nation so that you can learn from the mistakes and hopefully not repeat them in the future. Someday you will be the leaders of this country and it is my responsibility to teach you as much as possible to be good stewards of this land and your parents have the responsibility to teach you to be good stewards of your family name.

I guess that is one of the reasons why genealogy has taken on such a significant influence in my life. By learning about my ancestors, I also learn about their roles in the development of this country, their place in history so to speak. One day you too will become ancestors and your children hopefully will look back upon your lives and be able to say that we have been good stewards of our family and our country.

God bless each and every one of you…… may you have a safe holiday

Take time to reflect upon the past and march forward bravely into the future.