As the nation marks the 10th anniversary of the September 11th, terrorist attacks, a number of remembrances will be held to honor the 2,977 people who lost their lives that day. In the past 10 years, witf has produced hundreds of stories about the impact the attacks had on the region and followed the development of the Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset County:
(Shanksville) -- When United Flight 93 went down in Somerset County on September 11, 2001, witf's Tim Lambert was hurriedly on his way to work. He had no idea that one of the four planes hijacked during the terrorist attacks would crash near a piece of property he owned. Four weeks later, he learned the land outside the tiny borough of Shanksville was a part of Pennsylvania's version of Ground Zero. In early October, 2001, he toured the site with his father and two family friends and filed this report, which was the first for a reporter from ground still littered with debris.
>> Listen to the report following the first tour of the crash site now.
(Harrisburg) -- Six months after the September 11th attacks in 2001, a service was held in Somerset County to remember the 40 passengers and crew of United Flight 93. The hijacked jetline crashed outside Shanksville in Stonycreek Township. Since the attacks, thousands of items have been left at a temporary memorial near the crash site. WITF's Tim Lambert talked with a man whose gift is music.
STORIES PRODUCED BY witf ON THE FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SEPTEMBER 11TH ATTACKS:
(Shanksville) -- A month before the fifth anniversary, several Flight 93 family members held a surprise birthday dinner for witf's Tim Lambert in Somerset. Lambert owned property that was considered an essential part of the crash site, near Shanksville. The next day, three of them met with him near where the highjacked jetliner went down in 2001 to discuss how they've come to view the site over the years. He filed this report in September 2006, which was honored a year later with a 2007 National Edward R. Murrow award from the Radio Television Digital News Association in the Hard News Feature category.
>> Listen to the report on how family members have to come to view the crash site now.
He also penned an essay about his recollections for Central PA Magazine in September 2006.
The public radio program Weekend America also profiled Tim's connection to the site with this story, which also aired in September 2006:
(Shanksville) -- The responsibilities of a county coroner include securing the scenes of local deaths and providing the first context, as surviving relatives begin to cope with loss. This took on an entirely different dimension for Somerset County Coroner Wallace Miller in September, 2001. On the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks, the man who controlled the crash site of United Flight 93 for several years discussed how he has few regrets about how he handled it. But, he hesitated to talk about how the massive task affected him personally. WITF's Damon Boughamer reports.
>> Listen to the report from the county coroner who controlled the crash site now.
(Elizabethtown) -- A Lancaster County man has a unique connection to United Flight 93. Mahlon Fuller of Elizabethtown, Lancaster County, was the Watch Supervisor at Pittsburgh International Airport's Air Traffic Facility. He was in charge of the overall operations of the control tower and radar room as the events of that dark day unfolded. In an interview with witf's Tim Lambert on the fifth anniverary of the September 11th terroirst attacks, Fuller said he realized the country was at war after the second hijacked jetliner slammed into the World Trade Center.
Mal Fuller of Elizabethtown was the Watch Supervisor at Pittsburgh International Airport's Air Traffic Facility on September 11th, 2001. He has shared his story with the "Oral History Project" -- which is still being undertaken by the National Park Service for the Flight 93 National Memorial.
STORIES PRODUCED BY witf ON THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE SEPTEMBER 11TH ATTACKS:
(Shanksville) -- One year after hijacked United Flight 93 crashed in a field outside a small Somerset County town, people talked about their struggles to come
to terms with what happened and the tens of thousands of visitors that still flock to the site. WITF's Jen Rehill filed this report on the transformation of the rural hamlet.
(Undated) -- After the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001, people across the midstate responded by donating supplies, money, their blood and their time to relief efforts. In New York, Washington and Somerset County, civic and religious leaders recognized the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks with ceremonies marked by prayer and reflection. But outside the official rememberances, there were calls for a day of service. WITF's Tim Lambert took a look at how for some people, the spirit of volunteerism remains strong.
(Elysburg) -- Elysburg, Northumberland County is distinct among American places. It is the same shortest distance from Lower Manhattan, the Pentagon, and Shanksville -- about 137-miles from each place scarred by the terrorist attacks. It's a place where small-town neighbors cross paths every day with big-city visitors who fill Knoebel's Amusement Resort. On the first anniverary of the September 11th attacks, WITF's Damon Boughamer went to Elysburg to gauge how public sentiment has changed over the past year, and found little consensus.
