Flight 93 design change sought

Local News

Discussion

May 3, 2008

But petitions will have no impact on Flight 93 memorial, organizers contend

By KIRK SWAUGER The Tribune-Democrat Sat May 03, 2008, 11:23 PM EDT

SOMERSET — The petite, typically soft-spoken wife of a passenger killed aboard Flight 93 lashed out Saturday at protesters criticizing perceived Islamic symbolism in the design of a memorial for the hijacked plane.

“Wow. Such hate,” said Sandra Felt, whose husband, Edward Felt, was among 40 innocent passengers who died heroically when the jet crashed into a reclaimed strip mine near Shanksville on Sept. 11, 2001.

“I wasn’t prepared for this. Needless to say, I’m quite upset by it ... I would not support a design that honors Muslims or any of the kind.”

Her passionate response came at the end of a highly charged Flight 93 federal advisory commission and task force meeting at the Somerset County Courthouse.

With about two dozen protesters sitting in the courtroom, retired Marine Col. Harry Beam of Johnstown presented the commission with petitions containing more than 5,000 signatures demanding that the design be changed.

“They all believe there is no place for Islamic symbolism or anything else that would elevate the terrorists,” said Beam, adding he feels so strongly about the issue he attended the meeting despite his father passing away earlier in the day.

California conservative author Alec Rawls and Thomas Burnett Sr., whose son, Thomas Burnett Jr., was killed on Flight 93, have spearheaded an Internet drive to scrap the design. They contend a proposed semicircular arc of trees near the crash site is an Islamic crescent that points toward Mecca and that a “Tower of Voices” near the memorial’s entrance is a crescent as well.

“It is truly unfortunate that I must come a third time to warn you you are about to make a terrible mistake,” said Bill Steiner of Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland County, saying he had spoken with Burnett Sr. earlier in the week.

Felt and Burnett were among a 15-member jury that selected the design by Los Angeles architect Paul Murdoch from among more than 1,000 entries. Burnett has said the design was approved by a vote of 9 to 6, and has said he has been against the design from the beginning.

Felt recalled taking her daughters, then 14 and 12, to the crash site six years ago.

“What is going to happen here, Mom?” they asked.

“We see this as the site where our loved ones remains remain,” she added. “I support this design. My children support this design.”

Organizers have said the petitions will have no effect on the design or construction. They have vowed to have the memorial’s initial phase completed by the 10th anniversary of the crash.

Joanne Hanley, Flight 93 superintendent for the National Park Service in Somerset, said the bowl around the crash site will be finished by first, followed by the planting of 40 groves of trees and construction of a visitors center, then entrance roads and the Tower of Voices.

Getting the more than $60 million memorial ready for dedication is expected to carry a pricetag of about $22.5 million. So far, about $12.5 million in private donations has been raised toward a goal of $30 million.

Christine Fraser of New Jersey, whose sister died on the plane, told protesters they simple could choose not to visit the memorial.

“Let our loved ones rest in peace,” she said.

Text Only | Photo Reprints

Local News

Boil-water notice issued in Upper Yoder Township

A boil-water notice has been issued for a portion of Upper Yoder Township as crews work to repair a leak along Route 271.

February 3, 2012
No NDIC jobs to stay in city
After years of political clashes and fiscal uncertainty, these are the facts of the National Drug Intelligence Center’s final days:
• 87: The number of employees losing their jobs as NDIC operations wind down this year.
• 57: The number of staffers, aside from those 87, who will be offered jobs in Washington, D.C.
• Zero: The number of NDIC-related jobs that will remain in Johnstown.

February 2, 2012
Blogging with heart
I had a couple of interesting interviews over the past 24 hours. The first was with an ambitious Forest Hills High School junior who organized a Red Out across the district today in support of American Heart Association. Like many of those involved in Heart Association benefits, Spencer Ivock was inspired by his own family members' experience with heart disease.

February 3, 2012 1 Photo
Forest Hills junior puts his heart into Red Out
Forest Hills junior Spencer Ivock is “redding out” the schools today for his senior project.

February 2, 2012 1 Photo
Local pair accused of robbing home twice
A Johnstown couple has been charged with breaking into a Lower Yoder Township home twice in a four-month period – and then selling, for $103, some of the thousands of dollars in goods they alleged swiped.

February 2, 2012 2 Photos
Steel firm considers coal mine near Que
Cambria Somerset Authority officials plan to meet this week with representatives of an Ohio-based steel company about a plan that could put a coal mine south of the Quemahoning Reservoir.

February 2, 2012
In brief: Somerset motorist dies in crash
A 28-year-old Somerset man was killed Thursday morning when his vehicle left the road, hit a drainage ditch and rolled over.

February 2, 2012
Births 02/03/2012
February 2, 2012
[VIDEO] Party in Punxsutawney: Groundhog Day is about more than seeing shadows
For the thousands who show up at Gobbler's Knob as early as 8 p.m. on Feb. 1, Groundhog Day is about more than whether or not Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow: It's an excuse to party.
The Tribune-Democrat's Justin Dennis spent the night among the masses and captured all of the festivities on film.

February 2, 2012
[VIDEO] Punxsutawney Phil makes his prediction
More than 18,000 people – some representing states as far away as Arkansas and Oregon – crammed into the outdoor amphitheatre of Gobbler’s Knob on Thursday for the annual weather party known as Groundhog Day.

February 2, 2012 1 Photo
More Local News Headlines

Local News

Search Results

Discussion

Flight 93 design change sought

But petitions will have no impact on Flight 93 memorial, organizers contend

Where will you watch the Super Bowl?

Contact Us