Wednesday, July 29, 2009
SHANKSVILLE, Pa. (AP) — Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell will be the keynote speaker at this year’s ceremony to honor the victims of Flight 93.
The Families of Flight 93 group announced today that Powell will speak at the ceremony on Sept. 11 near Shanksville. Forty passengers and crew were killed when Flight 93, en route from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco, crashed into a western Pennsylvania field on Sept. 11, 2001.
“I look forward to coming to Shanksville to be with the families of those who gave their lives on 9/11 in freedom’s name,” Powell, who was secretary of state at the time of the attacks, said in a statement.
The theme of this year’s ceremony is “Upon This Sacred Ground, Courage Remembered.” Officials said more details about the ceremony would be released in the future.
The crew and passengers of Flight 93 are credited with storming the cockpit, preventing the hijacked plane from crashing into landmarks in Washington, D.C.
A $58 million, 2,200-acre memorial commemorating the victims and what happened that day is scheduled to open on the 10th anniversary of the attacks.