At the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department, remembrance remains part of the station’s public-facing work. Twenty-five years after Flight 93 crashed outside Shanksville, firefighters continue participating in interviews and school programs and hosting an annual open house for families and visitors. WTAE reported that Assistant Chief Brad Shober intends to continue those efforts beyond the anniversary year, while the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has described the station’s recurring role in welcoming Flight 93 families.
A local duty becomes a public record
The department’s approach reflects the experiences of people involved in the response. In reporting by WTAE, retired Assistant Chief Rick King discussed the passengers’ effort to regain control of the aircraft. Retired Chief Terry Shaffer said continued education is needed as direct reminders of Sept. 11 recede; Deputy Coroner Don Deaner described all 40 people aboard Flight 93 as heroes; and Stoystown Fire Chief David Johnson emphasized first responders’ duty to help people rather than seek recognition.
Much of the station’s public work is directed at people who were born after 2001. WTAE reported that Shober views interviews, conversations with students and the annual open house as ways to keep the account available to new audiences. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the gathering began within a month of the crash and has continued as a meeting point for the community and relatives of the passengers and crew.
What the record preserves
Preserving the story beyond Shanksville
The fire department’s community-based outreach is part of a broader preservation and education effort. The National Park Service says the Flight 93 National Memorial visitor center has a permanent exhibition placing the flight’s story in the context of the broader terrorist attack. The Park Service also offers free distance-learning programs for classrooms, senior centers and adult-learning institutions.
The Flight 93 account also rests on documented evidence from the aircraft. The National Park Service says 13 passengers and crew members placed 37 calls between the hijacking at 9:28 a.m. and the crash at 10:03 a.m.; 35 calls were made from seatback Airfones. The records were later entered as evidence in the 2006 sentencing trial of Zacarias Moussaoui. The calls informed people on the ground and aboard the plane about the hijacking, the attacks in New York and the strike on the Pentagon.
The department’s physical setting also connects Shanksville to the other attack sites. A 14-foot steel cross made from the World Trade Center’s North Tower stands outside the station on a Pentagon-shaped concrete base, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The New York City Fire Department gave the cross to Shanksville in 2008, and FDNY firefighters delivered it during a motorcycle procession.
Recruiting the next generation
The department’s outreach also fits a broader effort to sustain volunteer emergency services. According to the Pennsylvania Office of the State Fire Commissioner, junior firefighter programs are intended to inspire young Pennsylvanians to serve their communities and help ensure the future of emergency services. The state’s annual fire and EMS grant program provides another form of support: According to the Office of the State Fire Commissioner, eligible recruitment and retention projects include volunteer firefighter service-award programs and programs for minors.
For firefighters who responded in 2001, the continuing work centers on preserving the accounts they heard and witnessed, explaining the passengers’ actions to younger audiences and keeping the station available to returning families. WTAE reported that Shober expects the interviews, stories and annual open house to continue in 2026 and beyond.
