Obamas place wreath at Flight 93 memorial

Mr. Ridge went on to pay tribute to the victims, saying their actions prove “Americans don’t live in fear, we live in freedom”

Gordon Felt, brother of passenger Edward Felt and president of the Families of Flight 93, directed some of his comments to the relatives of the other victims.

“I only wish I could have gotten to know each and every one of you under different circumstances,” he said. “We lost too much.”

Visitors to the Flight 93 service observed moments of silence at 8:46 a.m. and 9:03 a.m. — the times when two other airliners crashed into New York’s twin towers. They did the same at 9:37 a.m., when a third airliner hit the Pentagon.

There was no moment of silence at 10:03 a.m. at the memorial, but the emotion there was evident.

Susan Stine, 52, of Tamaqua, Pa., said she has come to the Flight 93 crash site to mark the anniversary each year.

“Everybody was going to New York for the first anniversary, and we came here. I can’t imagine not being here on 9/11,” Ms. Stine said.

“The first time, I wanted to come here to see how it was, and it was amazing. I feel differently when I leave here every year,” she said. “I feel better in my heart.”

Rep. Mark Critz, Pennsylvania Democrat, choked up as he spoke about the Wall of Names, a series of 40 marble slabs inscribed with the names of the victims.

Told that the pattern of the wall delineates the flight path of the jet before it crashed, Mr. Critz said, “Ten years of emotion came rushing in.”

The passengers aboard Flight 93 were hijacked after taking off from New Jersey.

Flight 93 crashed after passengers and crew, some alerted by cellphone calls from loved ones about the New York attacks, decided to try to wrest control of their plane from four hijackers.

The plane crashed during the struggle, and investigators later determined the hijackers intended to crash it into the Capitol in Washington, where the House and Senate were in session that morning.

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