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Anita Kaltenbaugh

Travel Bucket List items that honor others: 9/11 Memorial


Tomorrow marks 17 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In my lifetime, 9/11 is the single biggest tragedy and awe-shocking event I can remember. I wasn’t alive when Kennedy was shot or when the first man stepped on the moon, but unfortunately, I clearly remember the day when the twin towers fell.

Driving into work, the DJ on the radio (yes that’s what we listened to back then) stated another plane had gone down near Indian Lake, Pennsylvania. I almost wrecked the car. See, I’m from Pennsylvania and my brother and cousins live a stone’s throw away from Indian Lake in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. When I called my father, who was alive at the time, he thought I was joking when I said about the plane going down in Pennsylvania. Apparently, I had heard about it before they did. I was living in Arizona and when us wild westerns were getting up and going to work, the twin towers were falling. The three-hour time difference made an impact.

Everyone has a connection to the tragedy of 9/11 and I’m sure you know someone or someone’s friend whose life changed forever by this horrific day. If you’re over 25, I’m sure you remember that day by where you were, and how it affected you.

I recently returned to Pennsylvania for a celebration of life event for my brother. We stopped and visited FLIGHT93 Memorial a sprawling 2200-acre national park. This was my third time at the memorial and I’ve seen the changes over the years, but there’s something about this place that is indescribable. A tribute to 40 brave men and women in the middle of a beautiful rural field in Pennsylvania.

photo by Anita Kaltenbaugh

I think the question everybody must ask, is: What, would I have done in that terrible situation. Would I have gathered the passengers together to stop the terrorist, knowing that in fact the act of heroism would end my life?

Would you have been that brave?

Yesterday, they had a ceremony to dedicate “The Tower of Voices” with 40 unique wind chimes in a tower stretching 93ft tall at the visitors center. One to represent each of the brave passengers and crew who perished saving our country from hijackers and yet another terrorist attack in our nation’s capital.

I took the photo a few weeks ago before it was completely finished.

If you have a travel bucket list, add this destination to your list it’s a bucket list destination that honors others and takes you to a beautiful place in the United States. A peaceful serene spot in the middle of country fields, where you wish the soft rolling green landscape would’ve been able to catch them when they fell.

Visit places that make you feel.

If you need a travel bucket list to keep track of your items, check out these options on Amazon and start your list today. Just click on the book cover.

Our Travel Bucket List:

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The Adventures of Us

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