The ceremony was simple and dignified. The audience consisted largely of people from Shanksville and surrounding Somerset County, families of Flight 93's passengers and crew, United Airlines employees, US Park Service personnel and people who were involved in raising funds and working to make the memorial a reality. The media kept a respectful distance and resisted the impulse to chatter during periods of silence; at least MSNBC's Chris Matthews resisted at any rate. I can't speak for other media outlets.
The day and the location demand thoughtful reflection. What happened in the skies over Shanksville saved hundreds of lives in Washington DC and may have avoided what was to be the coup de grace on that day 10 years ago, destruction of the symbol of American government and democracy.
Sarah McLachlan performed two songs, "I Will Remember You" and "In the Arms of an Angel" and the Navy Band performed "O Danny Boy" as a recessional. A solitary bagpiper seemed to have difficulty overcoming his emotions, giving his performance the poignancy of the bugle performance at President Kennedy's graveside.
Poet Robert Pinsky recited poems by Brazilian Carlos Drummond de Andrade, "Souvenir of the Ancient World" and Polish writer Czeslaw Milosz,"Incantation" (see link here). The first poem imagines a quiet world, at peace, and on the cusp of cataclysm. The second poem celebrates human reason:
"It says that everything is new under the sun,
Opens the congealed fist of the past."
The speeches were exceptional.
Preside Bush's speech was solemn and simple and reflected the sensibilities of a man who remembered his entire world changing in a blink, and the awesome, crushing responsibilities he has undertaken coming sharply into focus. He recounted the events of the day in a somber narrative and then reflected on the spirit of national unity that immediately followed the attacks; and seemed wistful for that sense that we are one nation, calling on politicians to remember that we are Americans before we are red or blue.
President Clinton recalled his wife coming home red-eyed the night before. As Senator from New York she represented the firefighters and policemen who died in the towers, along with the employees of Cantor- Fitzgerald and so many more. He spoke of the importance in our common memory of people who bravely face certain death that others may live and thrive, mentioning the defenders of the Alamo and Thermopylae who bought precious time with their lives and allowed Texas liberty and Athenian democracy to survive.
President Clinton also noted a crucial difference with the passengers and crew of Flight 93. The defenders at the Alamo and Thermopylae were soldiers. They knew what was expected of them. The passengers and crew of Flight 93 simply boarded an airplane. They were getting on about their lives. Yet with only minutes to decide, they chose not to be victims in a mad act of terrorism, but to fight back and prevent the slaughter of other innocents. They fought, not as soldiers but as citizens, with carafes of hot water, their fists, and a drink cart. And they won.
Vice President Biden's speech may have been the most personal and powerful. He opened by noting that he too had received the telephone call that is a bolt out of the blue, that ends your old life and sends you stumbling forward, unsure of your own future. He commended the families for their courage in coming to the place where their loved ones had died, and risking reopening wounds. He also noted that Flight 93 was the beginning of our nation's counterattack against terror, quoting militia Captain John Parker at the Battle of Lexington, that if war is what they want, "let it begin here." Nothing, he went on to tell the audience, can replace loved ones; sons, daughters. wives, husbands, fathers, mothers, friends. But those who came to Shanksville should know that their loved ones' sacrifice mattered, and that the nation will always be grateful.
One of the most moving moments came when those who were present in the Capitol and White House (the other likely target) that day were asked to stand; Joe Biden, Laura Bush, John Boehner, and a number of other folks in the audience stood, and the gravity of what those 40 passengers and crew did sank in.
They are worthy of their memorial. May we be worthy of them.
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