Shanksville, PA: The popular Flight 93 Speaker Series is back for a second year starting this month. Free of charge to the public, the programs will focus on first-person stories and accounts of the events and aftermath of September 11, 2001.
The National Park Service and Friends of Flight 93 National Memorial are pleased to welcome Somerset County Coroner Wally Miller and Dennis Dirkmaat, chair of Applied Forensic Services at Mercyhurst University, in kicking off the summer-long Speaker Series on May 19-20 at Flight 93 National Memorial.
Dennis Dirkmaat is a forensic anthropologist who worked on site at Flight 93 National Memorial in September 2001. Wally Miller worked as the local coroner who oversaw the crash site and helped family members organize the “Families of Flight 93.” In 2001, Dennis Dirkmaat served as the primary scientific advisor to Wally Miller during the recovery and identification of victims of United Flight 93.
Additional Speaker Series events will feature a variety of speakers and topics on specific weekends June, July and August:
June 16 & 17 - Family member Lorne Lyles, husband of Flight Attendant CeeCee Lyles, will relay personal stories.
July 21 & 22 - Tim Lambert, former landowner/local media and Dennis Roddy, writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette who covered the events of September 11, 2001, and the Flight 93 story, will share the point of view from local residents.
August 18 & 19 - Air traffic controllers Mal Fuller and John Werth. Mal Fuller (Pittsburgh) and John Werth (Cleveland), will tell stories of being in their cities’ air traffic control towers on September 11, 2001.
The Flight 93 Speaker Series is a joint effort between the National Park Service and Friends of Flight 93 National Memorial. The summer-long series is presented by Somerset Trust Company and will run one weekend a month from May to August. The presentations will take place on Saturdays at 12 pm and 2 pm, and Sundays at 1 pm in the Flight 93 National Memorial Learning Center.
For more information on the Speaker Series or other events at Flight 93 National Memorial visit http://www.flight93friends.org/programs-events/overview.
ABOUT THE FRIENDS OF FLIGHT 93 NATIONAL MEMORIAL
Established in 2009, the Friends of Flight 93 National Memorial is the official nonprofit partner of Flight 93 National Memorial. The Friends’ aim is to inform, honor and pay tribute to the heroes of Flight 93 by supporting the Memorial with volunteers and resources. The Friends’ mission is to focus on awareness, education, volunteer support, preservation and stewardship. To learn more about the Friends, make a donation to support the memorial, or become a member visit www.Flight93Friends.org.
ABOUT FLIGHT 93 NATIONAL MEMORIAL
On September 24, 2002, President Bush signed into law the Flight 93 National Memorial Act. The Act created a new national park unit to commemorate the passengers and crew of Flight 93 who, on September 11, 2001, courageously gave their lives thereby thwarting a planned attack on our nation’s capital. The memorial is near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93 crashed with the loss of its 40 passengers and crew. For more information on Flight 93 National Memorial visit www.nps.gov/flni.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
More than 22,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 417 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to home recreational opportunities. Learn more at: www.nps.gov.
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