Flight 93 Memorial Yesterday

Remarks by Mark Schweiker, governor of Pennsylvania — and how the crowd responded.

The governor's words at the Flight 93 Memorial, Shanksville, were brief but very moving. I wanted to share this part with you, and to tell you about the crowd's response.

... When many of us awoke on Sept. 11, America was a country at peace. Times were good. We hadn't known war in quite some time.

Then, just like that, our peace was shattered by cowards who sought to destroy our way of life. They thought we were weak. They thought we would simply stand aside.

Early on the morning of Sept. 11, in the skies above us, they got their answer.

Americans will always rise to the challenge.

Americans will always fight for freedom.

And Americans will never surrender our way of life.

Today, we stand on a battlefield.

It is unlike other battlefields in our nation's history because that day America's first defenders weren't battle tested.

They weren't even armed.

They were ordinary Americans who were off to work or to visit family.

And in an instant, they became one of the most heralded military units in our nation's rich history.

Some say that America's war against terror really began when our armed forces landed in Afghanistan last October.

But we know better. Those of us here today know better.

It was here that freedom took its first stand....

I was in the crowd that morning. As is customary, the crowd applauded many remarks throughout the ceremony. Very rarely, there was also a cheer from this or that person.

But notice the words I had bolded above. Here they are again; they deserve to be repeated:

.... Americans will always rise to the challenge.

Americans will always fight for freedom.

And Americans will never surrender our way of life....

The short, direct statements were rhetorically superb, like staccato trumpet blasts in a march.

As we all realized what the governor was saying, the crowd from end to end erupted into the loudest, longest applause of the entire morning, with sustained cheers from all quarters. The day wasn't just about grief and mourning, nor about the past only: it was about pride and honor and determination, and about the present and the future.

Nobody else, at any time, for any reason, evoked such a response from the crowd during the ceremony. I figure you probably won't hear about that, among so many other events and so many other speeches. And I wanted you to know about it.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 09/12/02 07:32:22 AM
Categorized as Classic & Most Notable.