The Legacy of Flight 93
Guideposts|August/September 2021
An Army officer remembers his cousin Rich Guadagno and the other 39 heroes who died in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 11
By Col. Christopher Whelan
The Legacy of Flight 93

Displayed among the artifacts at the Flight 93 National Memorial is the badge of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife officer recovered from the downed plane. The badge was discovered by investigators amid the cockpit debris. I draw no conclusions from this. The physics of airplane crashes, especially when a plane is deliberately driven into the ground from a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet, are complex. What I know is that the badge belonged to my cousin Rich Guadagno and, like the other 32 passengers and 7 crew members who perished that day at the hands of terrorists, he was a hero.

I first visited the site outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania, almost by happenstance on a cold February day more than three years after the 9/11 attack. I’d been leading a group of West Point cadets at the Officers Christian Fellowship Retreat Center when I realized how close we were.

The cadets crowded around the 40-foot chain-link fence at the crash site, one foot for each passenger and crew. We had troops on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq by then, a direct result of what had happened that infamous day in the scarred remains of this abandoned strip mine. Some of these very cadets would face deployment themselves. I wanted them to see how it had begun, to understand that history happens in real places, to people and families whose lives are forever changed.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August/September 2021 من Guideposts.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August/September 2021 من Guideposts.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من GUIDEPOSTS مشاهدة الكل
What prayer can do
Guideposts

What prayer can do

POWER IN OUR DAY-TO-DAY LIVES

time-read
1 min  |
Oct/Nov 2024
Rejoice in All Things
Guideposts

Rejoice in All Things

My husband and I had an annual tradition of celebrating the high points of the year. This time, he wanted to try something different

time-read
2 mins  |
Oct/Nov 2024
Special Delivery
Guideposts

Special Delivery

A month after my wife died and my life felt so empty, the only thing I had to look forward to was Amazon

time-read
5 mins  |
Oct/Nov 2024
A Prayer for Cullen
Guideposts

A Prayer for Cullen

Even in a family crisis, I had trouble quieting my mind enough to listen for God

time-read
4 mins  |
Oct/Nov 2024
Blackie & Rosebud
Guideposts

Blackie & Rosebud

What would happen to my friend's cats now that she was gone?

time-read
2 mins  |
Oct/Nov 2024
The Kids Are Alright
Guideposts

The Kids Are Alright

My twin boys and I had always been close. I thought they needed me. Now I wasn't so sure

time-read
5 mins  |
Oct/Nov 2024
Kindred Spirits
Guideposts

Kindred Spirits

I thought the nose ring gave it away—she was just another teenager. I couldn't imagine how she could help me

time-read
5 mins  |
Oct/Nov 2024
A Boy Named Sue
Guideposts

A Boy Named Sue

In 1969, Johnny Cash and his wife, June, threw a party at their house in Hendersonville, Tennessee, a “guitar pull,” where guests passed around a guitar and tried out new songs.

time-read
1 min  |
Oct/Nov 2024
Active Duty
Guideposts

Active Duty

I'd tried everything for my knee - physical therapy, gel injections, a cumbersome brace. Everything except prayer

time-read
7 mins  |
Oct/Nov 2024
Living an Abundant Life
Guideposts

Living an Abundant Life

A conversation with spirituality and health researcher Harold G. Koenig, M.D., on what makes people truly happy

time-read
8 mins  |
Oct/Nov 2024