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Funds are solicited for memorial to passengers of Flight 93
By Jim Carney
Beacon Journal
Published on Wednesday, Jul 09, 2008
WESTLAKE: Retired U.S. Army Gen. Tommy Franks has a message: What happened on Sept. 11, 2001, on one plane, when ordinary people rose up against terrorists, must never be forgotten.
''We as a nation will forget 9/11 at our own peril,'' he said Tuesday during a visit to Northeast Ohio to drum up financial support for the planned Flight 93 National Memorial.
Franks, who was the head of the U.S. Central Command during the invasions of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003, is national co-chair of the Flight 93 National Memorial.
More than a dozen business and civic leaders gathered at La Centre Banquet and Conference Center in Westlake to hear Franks and the story of the fund-raising drive to create both a national park and monument on the Shanksville, Pa., site where Flight 93 crashed after passengers and crew tried to retake the plane from hijackers.
One of the fundraising efforts was initiated by Sharon Deitrick, an Akron resident and owner of Deitrick and Associates. A member of the International Flight 93 Campaign and of the Flight 93 National Task Force, Deitrick is promoting the 93 Cents for Flight 93 campaign, aimed at getting a million people to donate 93 cents each.
So far, Franks said, more than $9 million of the $30 million in private funds needed for the memorial has been raised.
Groundbreaking is planned for Sept. 11, 2011, a decade after the terrorist attacks.
Franks said those on Flight 93 were ''true patriots. These people who were on that plane, in fact, won the first battle against terrorists that day. They said enough is enough and they took a stand.''
The Flight 93 memorial chairman, Chris Sullivan, of Tampa, Fla., who is chairman of Outback Steakhouse Inc., also spoke to the gathering in Westlake.
What those on the plane did, he said, helps people understand ''what it takes to be a great country, what it takes to be a contributing citizen and that there are people in this world who are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.''
Sullivan said the hope is that about $15 million of the $30 million goal will be raised by the end of 2010. In addition to the private money, another $33 million in public funds will be spent on the memorial and park.
Deitrick said she was thrilled that Franks and Sullivan came to Northeast Ohio and showed their support for the 93 Cents campaign. That fundraiser was started by Halo Foundation, an organization founded by Deitrick and her friends Francie Fischer and Suzanne Donohoe, both of Akron.
So far, the 93 Cents campaign has raised about $4,000 of the $1 million goal, Deitrick said.
One of those in attendance Tuesday, the Rev. Norman Douglas, of Akron, a Roman Catholic priest and co-founder of Heart to Heart Communications of Akron, said it is important to remember that those 40 on the plane were ordinary people.
''They weren't soldiers,'' said Douglas, who has counseled the families of those who died on Flight 93. ''They didn't take it lying down and fearful. They said we are going to do something and try to make a difference. . . . Those stories need to be told.''
For more information on the 93 Cents campaign, go to http://www.93centsforflight93.com or call 330-376-9110 or go to http://honorfight93.org.
Jim Carney can be reached at 330-996-3576 or jcarney@thebeaconjournal.com.
WESTLAKE: Retired U.S. Army Gen. Tommy Franks has a message: What happened on Sept. 11, 2001, on one plane, when ordinary people rose up against terrorists, must never be forgotten.
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