Political color abounds outside Flight 93 memorial for 9/11 service
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About 100 cars and pickups, many sporting Trump flags and bumper stickers, lined Route 30 Friday morning at the entrance to the Flight 93 National Memorial.
Most of those parked along the highway had hoped to attend the 19th 9/11 Memorial Observance but were left to wait outside the gates. The event was closed to the public because of coronavirus concerns and heightened security over President Trump’s appearance.
While a small group of National Park officials, Flight 93 Memorial volunteers and family members of the 40 passengers and crewmembers who died Sept. 11, 2001, observed a solemn memorial service with the president, the group outside flaunted their political colors.
Rick Kirkland of Friedens said he had hoped to get a glimpse of Trump. His custom motorcycle carried a flag that said “Trump 2020, No More Bull(expletive).”
“I’m here to show support for the president and my country,” Kirkland said. A retired federal employee, he said he appreciates the president’s “America First” philosophy of governing.
Several spaces away along the road that winds up the mountainside, Brad Riniger of Bedford brought a life-size Trump cutout.
The president, however, bypassed their displays, arriving at the memorial service by helicopter rather than motorcade.
While displays such as Kirkland’s and Riniger’s represented a distinct majority among those outside the gates, at least one large banner questioned the president’s leadership.
Tom Moran and Bruce Fealk, both of Fenton, Mich., stood quietly with a large banner reading: “2,977 dead on 9/11 — National Tragedy. 190K Dead Covid-19 — Trump’s Failure.”
“It’s a solemn day. We wanted to be respectful of the heroes who died here,” Moran said of their decision to drive six hours to unfurl their banner along the highway.
Michelle Petsch said she was working in the World Trade Center at the Estee Lauder corporate sales office on 9/11 and made her way to safety as the towers tumbled. On Friday, she made her first trip to the Flight 93 National Memorial. She said she was appalled by the political displays along the highway.
“It’s horrible that people are selling shirts. This is not political. It’s a memorial service for a day that changed our country,” she said as an elderly man walked up the highway berm, hawking Trump campaign buttons from a display box.
Darrell Isaac, a retired Air Force intelligence officer and commander of VFW Post 9936 in Dayton, Ohio, said he previously traveled to the memorial alone.
Isaac, who was parked along the roadside displaying his post’s flag, said he wasn’t aware Trump was planning to attend or that the event was closed to the public when he persuaded a small group to make the pilgrimage to Somerset County.
His group discussed their options and decided they’d wait for the park to open after the president’s departure.
“When you walk out there, you forget the things that make us different,” Isaac said. “Come back here, and you get a booster shot for humanity.”