08/31/2026
Remembering Flight 93"
As our nation pauses to remember the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks 25 years later, you are invited to attend a special public forum examining an extraordinary chapter in our nation’s history that unfolded in the Shanksville community.
“25 Years Later: Remembering Shanksville and Flight 93” will be held Tuesday, Sept. 8, at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium of Shanksville High School.
The program will feature former Pennsylvania Gov. Mark Schweiker and Dr. Glenn Kashurba, who will share their firsthand experiences from Sept. 11, 2001, and the difficult days and weeks that followed.
Schweiker was Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor on 9/11, and later, as governor, he helped lead the Commonwealth’s response to the attacks and the crash of United Flight 93, including the development of Pennsylvania’s homeland security platform. Over the past quarter century, Schweiker has made the pilgrimage back to Somerset County on numerous occasions to remember the sacrifice of our Flight 93 heroes and recognize the extraordinary compassion and support this community provided to their loved ones.
Kashurba, a pediatric psychiatrist, volunteered with the American Red Cross to support the families of the Flight 93 heroes when they came to Shanksville following the crash. He later chronicled his experience and those of other responders in his acclaimed books, “Courage After the Crash” and “Quiet Courage,” and went on to a 25-year career in disaster medicine, responding to disasters across America.
Together, Schweiker and Kashurba will provide an oral history account of the heroism of the Flight 93 passengers and crew, the emergency response, the experiences of the families and first responders, and the remarkable compassion demonstrated by the people of Somerset County.
The evening will be presented in partnership with The Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown and the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN) and will include an audience question-and-answer session.
For the Shanksville-Stonycreek School District, this history has a special significance. A quarter century ago, students and teachers walked the halls on what began as an ordinary September morning. Within hours, their school and their community had become part of one of the defining events in American history. First responders arrived from across the region, families of the passengers and crew came to Somerset County, and the eyes of the world turned toward Shanksville.
Today’s students were not yet born when those events occurred. This forum offers a rare opportunity to hear that history firsthand and to better understand the courage, leadership, compassion, and resilience demonstrated here in your own community.
We hope our community and families will attend this important evening of remembrance and reflection — and help ensure that the story of Flight 93 and the extraordinary response of the Shanksville and Somerset County communities is carried forward for generations to come.
