Somerset County coroner to recall work at Flight 93 crash scene
Share this post:
Longtime Somerset County Coroner Wally Miller will be the guest speaker as the Friends of Flight 93 kicks off its annual speaker series at 7 p.m. Thursday .
The initial lecture this year will be digital as the Flight 93 National Memorial Visitor Center and Learning Center remain closed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The link to register for the live speaker series is available at https://bit.ly/2ziCdHo.
Miller, who was elected coroner in 1997, played an integral role in the aftermath of the crash of Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, as he was among the first local officials to reach the crash site near Shanksville on the morning of the 9/11 terror attacks. He assisted the FBI and other law enforcement agencies.
A joint venture of the National Park Service and the Friends of Flight 93, the speakers series offers visitors an opportunity to hear firsthand accounts of first responders and family members who were drawn to the site that day and years afterward as they worked to establish the memorial in Somerset County.
The 40 passengers and crew members died when the jetliner went down as they fought to wrest control of it from hijackers intent on reaching the nation’s capital. Their actions have long since been memorialized as the first shot fired in America’s ongoing war on terror.
Miller also became a key liaison with the family members of the victims in the years after 2001, and during the development and growth of the national memorial.
Speakers series programs are usually held at the memorial’s Learning Center free of charge to the public, however, in response to the national health crisis, the Friends of Flight 93 adapted the format to a new virtual series.
Wallace’s program will be the first of three new education programs offered to the public this year.
Additional speakers this summer include family members Ed Root and Emily Schenkel, who will share stories in July about their loved one, United Airlines flight attendant Lorraine Bay, and their experiences at the memorial over the past 19 years.
In August, Tony James, Federal Aviation Administration air safety investigatorwho responded to the Flight 93 crash site, will speak.
For more information on the speaker series or other programs and events supported by Friends of Flight 93, visit http://www.flight93friends.org/programs-events/overview. To donate to the Friends of Flight 93 and its educational programs, visit https://www.flight93friends.org/donate.