Brother of Flight 93 victim: ‘Are we worthy of their sacrifice?’

The brother of a Flight 93 victim from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks gave a speech Saturday commemorating the lives lost on the plane that crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pa. 

“The question to be considered is, are we worthy of their sacrifice? Are we worthy? Do we as individuals, communities and as a country conduct ourselves in a manner that would make those that sacrificed so much and fought so hard on Sept. 11 proud of who we’ve become?” Gordon Felt, brother of Flight 93 victim Edward Felt, said in a speech at the Flight 93 Memorial. 

“The real question we must all ask ourselves is, have we as a society moved on and left the hard-earned lessons of Sept. 11 behind? Have we really become desensitized to what happened that fateful morning?” he added. 

Gordon Felt, whose brother Edward was on Flight 93: “Are we worthy of their sacrifice? Are we worthy? Do we as individuals, communities, & as a country, conduct ourselves in a manner that would make those that sacrificed so much and fought so hard…proud of who we’ve become?” pic.twitter.com/tBpQvCRhPq

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) September 11, 2021

United Airlines Flight 93 left from Newark International Airport on Sept. 11, 2001. It was one of four planes hijacked on the day; two others crashed into the twin towers in New York City, and one hit the Pentagon. The passengers and crew members on Flight 93 fought back against hijackers on the plane, and the aircraft crashed at a high speed into a field in Shanksville, Pa. The crash killed 40 people on board. 

The plane was widely believed to have been heading toward Washington, D.C., to attack the Capitol.

“As a country, we shouldn’t seek to move on but rather dedicate ourselves to moving forward, honoring and remembering the sacrifices made on Sept. 11,” Gordon Felt said. 

“Let us be worthy of the selfless sacrifices that were made. Let us remember who we became on Sept. 12. In the aftermath of Sept. 11, we sought beyond our differences so that in unity we could survive the devastation of the day,” he added. 

Edward Felt died at age 41 in the crash and left behind two daughters. 

Overall, almost 3,000 Americans died on Sept. 11, 2001, in the attacks at all three locations. 

“Whether it was in the air or on the ground that moment, heroism was revealed,” Gordon Felt said. “Let us strive to be worthy of those we lost that morning.”