Showing posts with label 9-11. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 9-11. Show all posts

Sunday, September 20, 2026

Remembrance of Captain Jason Dahl, Pilot of United Flight 93


Thank you to all who read and commented on my blog post about the sad 25th Anniversary of 9/11. 

We have so many memories of that horrific day, and the 25-year milestone was a poignant time of remembrance for us, and I'm sure for you. 

Also touching for us was learning 13 years ago that Jason Dahl, the pilot and captain of the doomed United Flight 93 plane brought down by brave passengers on 9/11 into a field in Pennsylvania before it could destroy another part of Washington, DC, was a resident who lived in our Colorado suburban Front Range neighborhood. 

Many of our friends knew Jason and told us what a wonderful person he was, as a neighbor, husband, father, and Boy Scout Leader.



After his tragic death on 9/11, our community erected a small memorial to Captain Dahl on our main street, just outside his neighborhood. It is a marble stone with a bronze eagle in flight. Over the years, neighbors have decorated it every 9/11 in remembrance, as you can see in the collage of photos I took.

A non-profit, the Jason Dahl Scholarship Foundation, was also established in his memory. It supports future generations of pilots, young people yearning to fly, through the award of Aviation Scholarships annually.





This year, on the 25th Anniversary of 9/11, there was a special remembrance ceremony held for Captain Dahl and all those who perished on 9/11, held at his memorial, generously sponsored by local businesses.

In attendance as speakers were neighbors who knew Captain Dahl as well as other members of our community, Police and Fire Color Guards, our local West Metro Fire Department, a Fire Department Ceremonial Bagpiper, some United Airlines pilots,  and two ladies who sang a variety of patriotic songs.


You can see the "Missing Man" flyover that occurred at the beginning of the Memorial program in this Youtube short video.



The bagpiper played a few songs, one of which was "Amazing Grace," which always brings a tear to my eyes.

You can also watch it as a short video on this YouTube link


A special memorial American Flag was folded by a Police Color Guard, and a Red, White, and Blue flower wreath was placed at Captain Dahl's Memorial.




The Color Guard also marched off with the United States of America Flag and Colorado State Flag at the end of the ceremony.



The ceremony ended with all of us singing "America the Beautiful."

It was a very honorable remembrance ceremony for Captain Dahl and all those who perished on 9/11.

May we always remember them...


... and may we also remember these words spoken after 9/11 by the late Mrs. Sandy Dahl:

"If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there is no time for hate." -- Sandy Dahl



PS: We were away last week, "Leaf Peeping" the aspen trees in the Rocky Mountains turning their gorgeous golden fall color--join me again on my blog soon to see more!

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Sunday, September 6, 2026

25th Anniversary of 9-11 in New York City


 This is how I'll always remember the Twin Towers in New York City. 

This photo hangs in the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

 When I saw this photo on a visit to this very emotionally touching museum, I had an immediate flashback to the last time I saw the towers in August of 2001, when I waited to meet my husband, who worked in 7 World Trade Center, located across the street from WTC Tower 1. I sat in the WTC promenade by the fountain, and I remember watching a window-washing crew at work up high on Tower 2. 

We had traveled all around Italy with our college-age children that past May, and I remember thinking how we traveled so far to see so much beauty in Italy, but then sometimes take for granted the marvels we see almost every day here at home in the USA.




The unidentified remains found in the rubble after the terrorist attack are located behind this wall inside the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. The New York City Medical Examiner's Office is still identifying remains as tests become more sophisticated.



This photo is of our children when they were young, standing inside the glass tunnel entrance to 7 World Trade Center from the WTC Promenade. My husband worked in that building from 1987 to 2001. WTC 7 collapsed at 5:20:52 p.m. on Sept. 11, 2001, after enduring fires for almost seven hours, from the time of the collapse of the north WTC tower.

We were all fortunate that day, as my husband was home preparing to leave for a business golf outing. Our daughter was home as she was attending NYU and did not live in the dorm that year, but drove to the college from our home in Brooklyn. Our son, who had graduated from college in Washington, D.C. that spring, stayed to work there at the time and lived a few blocks north of the White House. He was preparing to go to work when he heard the news that the WTC towers and the Pentagon were hit.


Part of the memorial for the 343 firefighters killed on 9/11 at the Ten House Firehouse, located on Liberty Street. My older brother was an FDNY lieutenant for almost 30 years and had retired a few years before 9/11. He knew many of the firemen who perished that day. 

I have written many blog posts about 9/11, as you can see by the tab on my blog's sidebar under "Labels." Some of them show the many memorials to the memory of 9/11 that we have seen all around the country. The latest one we saw was as part of the Counterterrorism Education Learning Lab we visited with friends last summer in Denver, Colorado. You can read about the purpose of this museum on their FAQ page.

They had a steel beam from the WTC on display as part of an exhibit.


When we moved from NYC to Colorado in 2013, we learned the pilot, Jason Dahl, from the third hijacked airplane on 9/11,  Flight 93, had lived in our neighborhood. 

His flight was the plane that the brave passengers brought down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to prevent further destruction in Washington DC.



This memorial was dedicated to his memory in the area where his home was located. 

In 2002, the Captain Jason Dahl Scholarship Fund was established to provide two deserving aviation students a scholarship grant in Jason’s name.

Our neighborhood all gathered on the 20th anniversary to remember and honor Captain Dahl, and we plan to do the same for this 25th Anniversary.

“If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn
that life is short and there is no time for hate.”
~ Sandy Dahl, wife of Flight 93 pilot Jason Dahl


The 9/11 Memorial and Museum has a special 25th Anniversary Remembrance and Service page.

Is there a 9-11 Memorial where you live? I'd love to learn about it in your comments below.

To all our friends, neighbors, and work associates that we lost on 9-11...

We will never forget!


It is up to all of us to make the world a better place.
 Let us spread kindness and defeat hate!

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Sunday, September 10, 2023

In Remembrance of 9-11


The Pueblo, Colorado, a 9-11 Memorial is located along the historic Arkansas Riverwalk, in front of the Center For American Values, which is dedicated to the delivery of high-quality civics-based education for our nation's youth (K-12) and houses one of the largest Medal of Honor Portraits of Valor.  You can read more about this center in a blog post I wrote in 2013 on this link and my post about the historic Arkansas Riverwalk in Pueblo, Colorado on this link.



A piece of steel from one of the World Trade Center buildings is part of the Pueblo, Colorado, memorial and is facing toward New York City.

It's hard to fathom that 22 years have passed since the terrorist attack on the United States that took place on September 11, 2001. At that time, my husband and I were residing in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, where we had a clear view of the top of World Trade Center Building 2 from the front of our home. My husband worked in building 7 of the World Trade Center complex, and we frequented that area of NYC often. Our daughter was studying in college in NYC, while our son was living in Washington, DC for his college education and subsequent work. The memories of that day are still vivid in our minds. 

I have written many posts about 9-11 since I began my blog--many, many memories and photos that I took in New York and also my reflections about the day after we moved to Colorado in 2013. You can find all those posts under this link for the posts with the 9-11 label--keep scrolling for more after each post--there are 17 posts in total.

We will never forget!



 All 50 states of the United States have memorials to the Terrorist 9-11, as well as many countries around the world.  You can see many of them on this link on the 9-11 Living Memorial Website.

In the Colorado neighborhood in which I now live we have a memorial to Jason Dahl, the pilot of Flight 93, the flight the passengers bravely fought the terrorists that took over the plane and it crashed that day in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.  
Jason Dahl lived here --just a few blocks from where I now live--and the community erected this stone that has an eagle figure and the words: "'May he soar with the eagles."  In the photo collage above you can see that memorial on the right and on the left is his name on one of the two 9-11 Memorial Fountains, in NYC, that now stand where each World Trade Center Tower once stood. As another memorial, there is a scholarship that has been established in Jason Dahl's memory to help young aviators achieve their dreams,

 


The 9-11 Living Memorial Project was launched in 2006. The Living Memorial Digital Archive Project is an online collection of photographs that chronicles the 2,977 lives lost on 9/11 and the 6 individuals and an unborn child that died in the 1993 bombing and also documents stories of responders and survivors. Today, the 9/11 Living Memorial is an extensive online collection of over 87,000 photographs that will expand over time. Through their partnership with the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York City, the 9/11 Living Memorial is now a core component of their "In Memoriam" exhibition, which commemorates the lives lost in the attacks and provides visitors with the opportunity to learn about the men, women, and children who died.  There are also survivor stories as part of the website. Please take some time to read some of the stories today if you can. 





Is there a 9-11 Memorial where you live? I'd love to learn about it in your comments below.

To all our friends, neighbors, and work associates that we lost on  9-11...

       We will never forget!





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Monday, September 13, 2021

Summer's End


"Summer's lease hath all too short a date." ~ William Shakespeare

The wild grass is high and has gone to seed, the light is shorter and more golden, the mornings and evenings are cooler.  The end of summer is nigh. 



"We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever"  ~ Carl Sagan

June, July, and August have passed so quickly! The weather was uncomfortably hot this year--we broke weather records for heat. Denver is currently tied for its 4th-hottest summer in recorded history (1872-present). The National Weather Service (NWS) defines summer from June 1 to August 31. We had five days of 100 degrees or higher, forty-six days of 90 degrees or higher, and five days either tied or broke the record high temperature. The weather felt even more oppressive this summer due to the high ozone from the heat and Western wildfire smoke in our atmosphere for many days.  I was happy that we invested in two Hepa air purifiers this year which ran almost constantly.

"If you don't like the weather in Colorado wait 15 minutes--
it will change." ~ Common Folklore

Speaking of weather....no, this isn't snowing...it is hail that fell during a recent afternoon thunderstorm!  We were out shopping and as we drove back into our community we began to see patches of white on the ground, even though the temperature was hot.  When we got home we saw that hail knocked off some of the tree leaves and battered a few of our flowers but thankfully no other damage was done.  As you can see from the close-up, in the photo collage above, the hail was about the size of a dime and a nickel.  Happily, it wasn't any bigger as at times Colorado has golf ball to softball size hail that is very damaging.



"Happily we bask in this warm September sun, which illuminates all creatures." ~ Henry David Thoreau

My garden is fading but I hope our figs will ripen in these last weeks of warm sun.  My roses formed rose hips and I'm drying the sunflower head to save for the birds to eat in winter. The last of summer to savor and anticipation of autumn's beauty to look forward to! Autumn is my favorite season--what is yours?



"Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be..." ~ Robert Browning

Our son's in-laws celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in a fun way this month. They rented a private suite at Coors Field in Denver for a Colorado Rockies game for the entire family to attend.  It was catered with delicious food and we all had a fun time watching the game and all the festivities. We wish them many, many, more years of wedded bliss!




September 11th is always a sad day for us.  I have written many past blog posts about this day and our experiences that day as we lived in New York City at the time and my husband worked in #7 World Trade Center. We knew many who perished that tragic day.  On this 20th anniversary of the event, the memories are still sharp and the desire that good will prevail over evil is still my hope even more than ever.


“If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn
that life is short and there is no time for hate.”
~ Sandy Dahl, wife of Flight 93 pilot Jason Dahl

The pilot of United Airlines Flight 93, Jason Dahl, lived in our Colorado community at the time. His flight was the plane that the brave passengers brought down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to prevent further destruction in Washington DC. Our community put up a memorial of a flying eagle and the plaque above in his memory after 9-11.  Every year on 9-11 many gather at his memorial to pay tribute to him and all the others who perished that tragic day with a moment of silence. 

 A beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky this year during the memorial gathering. Another sign of hope! It is up to all of us to make the world a better place--spread kindness and defeat hate!

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Saturday, September 17, 2016

Autumn is in the Air!


Thank you, everyone, for reading my last blog post about my reflections on the fifteenth anniversary of  9-11-01. After all these years it is still a difficult day to remember with many emotions and much sadness.  Our community in Littleton had a candlelight memorial service for a former resident, Jason Dahl, who was the pilot of the hijacked United Flight 93 that was brought down that day in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.  At the ceremony friends and neighbors talked about their fond memories of Captain Dahl, and one of the recipients of this year's Jason Dahl Aviation Scholarship, awarded in Jason Dahl's memory, spoke about his dream to become a pilot one day. As the program ended all in attendance sang "God Bless America." It was a very touching and heartfelt ceremony.


As the days pass deeper into September, and the sun lies lower in the horizon, with days growing shorter and evening temperatures getting cooler, the aspen trees in Colorado begin to turn from green to shades of gold and orange. Autumn is definitely in the air!  It is my favorite season, and I'm looking forward to enjoying it as much as possible.


The aspen color changes occur in the higher elevations of Colorado first...


..... and then slowly descend down to the lower elevations.  So it is possible to enjoy autumn now, and well into October

Please click on to enlarge

Our summer was unusually warm on the Front Range of Colorado this year, with many days over ninety degrees, so I'm looking forward to cooler temperatures, and yes, even snow! I will miss seeing the delightful hummingbirds that liked to visit a blue salvia plant in my backyard many times a day. I'll also miss the young fawn who was born in my next door neighbor's yard in early summer and who visited us frequently while his mother looked for food. These last days of summer brought cheerful little sparrows who sat on my lavender bushes  and enjoyed eating the flower seeds of the lavender plants. Every season brings its precious moments of beauty!


This is the perfect time of the year to take a long drive to enjoy the scenery.


Our grandchildren have been back in school for almost a month, and weekend soccer games and fall festivals have begun. 


Soon we will be picking out a pumpkin at the pumpkin farm and decorating for Halloween with the grands, rituals that bring back many happy memories from my childhood, as well as my children's childhood.


I'll share Colorado autumn photos in the next few months, and I will also be sharing the wonderful trip my husband and I took to see Glacier National Park in Montana in August. I finally finished downloading and editing almost 2,000 photos that I took on that trip! It was a spectacular park to visit and our drive through Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, on our way to and from the park was also wondrous in its own way.


There is so much beauty in the world and the western states of the USA really have a special charm of their own.

 Enjoy life and enjoy the changing season! 


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