Biden, Harris To Visit PA's Flight 93 National Memorial On 9/11

SHANKSVILLE, PA — President Joe Biden and and first lady Jill Biden will mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks Saturday by visiting the sites of that day's three plane crashes. They will stop in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia and rural Somerset County, home of the Flight 93 National Memorial.

The White House did not say if Biden will deliver remarks at the site, but announced that Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff also will visit Shanksville before joining the Bidens at the Pentagon.

Biden, a Democratic senator when the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people occurred, went to Shanksville last year on Sept. 11 as the Democratic presidential nominee.

Shanksville is where United Fight 93 crashed as passengers attempted to wrest control of the plane from hijackers on the deadly day. Hijacked planes also slammed into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.

George W. Bush, who was president when the attacks happened, will deliver the keynote address at Saturday's ceremony. He will attend the memorial event with his wife, Laura.

According to the National Parks Service, names of passengers and crew members will be read at 10:03 a.m., the moment Flight 93 crashed. The 20th observance also will include remarks from:

• Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf
• U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland.
• Captain David Kurtz, commanding officer, USS Somerset.
• Gordon Felt, brother of passenger Edward Porter Felt.

Because of the coronavirus outbreak, the observance will be limited to family members and invited guests and streamed on the park’s Facebook page. Park grounds will reopen to the public following the ceremony's conclusion.

The memorial site will hold a number of programs open to the public throughout the week:

• On Sept. 9, 10 and 12, the “Witness to History” speaker series will bring together military and civilian air response officials, creators of the memorial, and first responders to Flight 93 to recount their experiences. The full schedule of speakers and times is available on the Flight 93 National Memorial website.

• On Friday, Sept. 10 the Luminaria Ceremony will take place at 7:30 p.m. Forty candle lanterns will be placed at the Wall of Names, serving as a moving tribute to the passengers and crew members of Flight 93. The luminaria, hosted by the Friends of Flight 93, will be open to the public and feature music by the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra.

• The memorial will close after the Luminaria Ceremony on Friday evening and reopen to the public on following the Sept. 11 morning ceremony. At 3 p.m. on Saturday, the public is invited to attend an hour-long Memorial Tribute Concert performed by the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra at the Memorial Plaza.