Only the courage, sacrifice, and selfless actions of the passengers and crew are recognized.

FLIGHT 93 MEMORIAL COMPETITION
Ascending the ridge visitors experience time, from the present to the memorial installation in the distance and, through it, a view to the Sacred Ground.

From the Memorial Visitors Center, an artificially raised path leads around the northwestern periphery of the ridge. A sequence of inscriptions marks the path, some referencing specific moments, others illuminating the lives of passengers and crew.

As the events of September 11 unfold and near the climax of that morning, the focus is redirected: "At 9:57am, they decided and acted. The passenger assault began."

The path undergoes an abrupt shift toward the southeast to parallel the path of Flight 93. Straight and true, the path continues, elevated still more as the natural elevation dips into the Bowl. At its end, forty pylons reach upward toward the sky. Lustrous by day and illuminated from within by night, they honor each of the passengers and crew. Clustered in an ascending density, they evoke the collective force with which passengers and crew overcame fear. Like the courage of the heroes of Flight 93, the pylons rise tall into the sky. Irregular in shape they are akin to contrails. Light like contrails, they are borne by the wind, magnifying their tracings and sound.

Standing among the pylons and extending the line of the path, families and visitors view the Sacred Ground. The pylons are sentry for the resting place of forty heroes.

Like the courage of the heroes of Flight 93, the pylons rise with inspired life, borne by the wind.