Pennsylvania's Forgotten Memorial

On September 24, 2001, Donna Glessner was boxing up donations at the fire station in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Two weeks before, United Flight 93 had crashed into a reclaimed strip mine about three miles away, killing its 40 passengers and crew members. The station in this town of 245 had become a supply depot, providing necessities to the hundreds of outsiders who had flooded the area: sweatshirts, bug spray, toothbrushes, and so much homemade food that a refrigerated trailer had to be brought in just to hold it. With the FBI closing its field investigation, though, Shanksville seemed ready to return to normal. As Glessner packed up the last container of food, she noticed a car with out-of-state plates. Out popped a woman clutching a camera and asking for a picture of the Shanksville Fire Truck. “I remember being really struck by that,” Glessner recalls. “Wow, a tourist in Shanksville!”