Butler County group makes pilgrimage from Herman to Shanksville
SHANKSVILLE, Somerset County — The events of Sept. 11, 2001, touched Western Pennsylvania when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a field outside Shanksville.
On the 24th anniversary of the deadliest terrorist attack in American history, a group of Butler County residents made the two-hour pilgrimage from the Herman Volunteer Fire Company to Shanksville to pay their respects to the passengers and crew who ensured that the plane would not strike its intended destination.
This marks the second straight year that 65-year-old Michael Moniot has chartered a bus to Shanksville to make the pilgrimage. Over two dozen people took him up on the free trip this year. Moniot said he plans to repeat the voyage on Sept. 11 each year as long as he lives.
“I’m a very devout patriot and today is Patriots’ Day,” said Moniot, who also runs a local food bank. “The program was phenomenal and it touched my heart enough to where I am going to charter this bus every year on this date. We’re going to do this bus trip every year.”
The trip came about last year when he received an invitation to the Flight 93 Memorial Chapel by the church’s archbishop, Abina Melchizedek, after what Moniot called “a long story” that involved “divine intervention.”
“He was going to be here today, but his brother passed away last night,” Moniot said.
He added this year’s trip was “far more pleasurable” than last year’s. Their trip last year coincided with a visit from then-Presidential candidate Donald Trump, which led to many road closures and traffic problems.
For many in the group, such as Josie Rhodaberger, this was the second time she made the trip to Shanksville. She brought her two granddaughters, Maggie and Molly.
“It’s memorable,” Josie said. “I just can’t imagine what (the victims) went through. It’s very heart-wrenching.”
The excursion began with a ceremony at the Flight 93 Memorial Chapel in Friedens, overseen by the Rev. Patrick Walsh — whose son, Conlan, is currently a teacher and tennis coach at Butler Area School District.
The chapel contains numerous pieces of 9/11-related artifacts, including papers that were found aboard the crashed Flight 93, and remnants from both the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
While Flight 93 narrowly escaped hitting a target in Washington D.C. thanks to the actions of the passengers — presumed to be either the U.S. Capitol or the White House — the plane also came dangerously close to hitting Shanksville-Stonycreek Middle School, according to Walsh.
“Some estimated that if the plane was in the air another 10 seconds, it would have hit the school,” said Walsh, who taught there at the time.
Guest speaker Christopher Zanoni, a social studies teacher at Somerset Area School District, said the one silver lining of the tragedy was that it temporarily brought Americans closer together.
“As I told my students today, the election of 2000 was as divisive as the election of 2020. We all remember the Florida recount,” Zanoni said. “But Sept. 12, 2001, it didn’t matter what letter followed your name in voter registration. You were an American.”
Afterward, the group went to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville.
Some younger members of the group, such as Carter Foy, of Saxonburg, missed school on Thursday so they and their families could experience a piece of American history close to their backyard.
“He would normally have school but he was excused for today,” said George Lucas, Foy’s great-grandfather. “We just wanted to come out and see the history.”
“It’s part of the past,” Rhodaberger said. “We need to teach our children. That’s what America is made of. To be a hero, you have to do stuff like this.”
