WILKES-BARRE — The world will soon mark the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 — and how that event changed the world forever.
And on this 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on our country, I one again will think of my late friend, Dr. Tony Mussari.
Mussari always called the actions of passengers on United Airlines Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001, “so symbolic of what America is on its best day.”
“It was quintessential America,” Mussari once told me.
Mussari, who passed away on Oct. 18, 2017, and his wife, the former Kitch Loftus, had transformed much of their property on Windsor Drive in Dallas into “Windsor Park” — a walking trail of greenery, ponds, benches and tributes.
One of the tributes was dedicated to the memory of the 40 passengers of Flight 93.
Called “Angel Garden,” the garden contained markers and names of all the passengers and crew members, a Flight 93 flag and a rock for every life lost at all sites on 9/11.
It was a true labor of love and deep respect for the victims, their families and friends.
A weather vane near the top of the garden pointed due west towards Shanksville.
“Shanksville is always somewhat forgotten in the discussions of 9/11,” Mussari told me. “The 40 people on that airplane prevented it from hitting the Capitol when both houses of Congress were in session. Their act of courage and heroism ranks among the highest and purest forms of heroism and courage in our history.”
Mussari said when he first visited the site of the crash — and on every other occasion he and Kitch have been there — the experience is the same. People coming to see where the plane carrying the “40 angels of freedom” came down.
Tony Mussari said the experience is so compelling, nearly every visitor wants to leave some part of themselves behind to pay tribute to the victims.
“In driving rainstorms, the people came,” he said. “In winter when the ground was covered with 6 inches of snow and in blistering heat, people came and left things. There is this connection with these brave Americans whose names nobody knew, but did what Americans do in their finest hour.”
Mussari added, “We must never permit ourselves to forget not only the act of courage, but the values of the people who were both on the plane and the people of Shanksville.”
Around the path from the Angel Garden was the Garden of Life. There were rocks with words like “imagine,” “dream,” “belief” and 125 more that spoke to “life.”
A 37-year-old Chinese Dawn Maple Tree stood nearby. A bench underneath awaited visitors. Neighbors would stop by with their children and grandchildren to watch the fish in the ponds and learn about life and history — including the events of 9/11.
“The selfless, heroic acts of those 40 people, put themselves in harm’s way to avoid a tragedy of even larger proportion,” Mussari said. “They made their last moments the most meaningful of service that makes us all proud to be Americans.”
What would you do?
The first time he visited the site, Mussari said he just stood there and looked at the large space where the plane crashed.
“Something happened,” he said. “I thought, ‘What would you do if you were on that plane?’ That thought, that feeling was overwhelming.”
Mussari leaned back and tried to put himself on that hijacked plane.
“Think about it. You know this plane is destined to crash and you are traveling in the last part of this journey,” he said. “You’re going about 565 miles per hour and you’re at the level where cell towers pick up cell phone calls and you have the kind of courage and determination to try to take over control of the aircraft.”
The Mussaris dedicated many years to remembering Shanksville and the victims of Flight 93. Each year they produced an anniversary video about the crash.
They completed 22 documentary films on Shanksville and Flight 93.
Tony and Kitch always honored and respected every victim of 9/11 and their families.
Now, 25 years after 9/11 and nearly nine years since Tony passed, the story about Shanksville and Flight 93 and those passengers comes back and that story exemplifies not only that we must never forget 9/11, but that on that tragic day, America showed its courage and resiliency.
We must stop and think about that day and remember all those who lost their lives — the innocent victims and the brave first responders.
And the national unity that came after 9/11 must be found again in 2026.
We must never forget.
We must remember we are all in this together.
And we must work together for our country and ourselves.
Like my friend Tony Mussari said, we must again be “quintessential America.”