Deora bodley biography of christopher

As you approach Shanksville, you wonder what the roar of a about to crash must have done to this quiet place. Finding the crash site is surprisingly tricky. The road up to the temporary memorial is unpaved but passable. It leads to an old barn that was commandeered by the FBI to conduct its investigation. The makeshift structure now houses placards that tell the Flight 93 story, as well as some artifacts.

The main attraction is the abandoned mine field below, where the plane slammed upside down at about mph. When I was there, a fence separated visitors from the point of impact. A couple of earth movers, part-way through efforts to level the ground, stood silent. Given the size of the place — the memorial grounds ultimately will cover 1, acres — the trucks seemed dwarfed by their task.

The rest of the story will probably sound familiar to you, even if the details are not. The process did not go smoothly. At one point, the park service had to move the temporary memorial when a mining company that owned the land where it had been erected tried to solicit donations from visitors. After years of bickering, the federal government threatened to use eminent domain to take the land in , which finally persuaded several local coal companies to sell.

In the meantime, the park service and the coal companies argued over who would clean up the manganese left over from prior mining activities. After the design for the memorial was chosen in , protestors — led by a family member of a Flight 93 victim — complained that the plans include hidden pro-Islamic messages. Work on the memorial finally began in , but stopped almost immediately when a New Jersey construction company challenged the bidding process.

Denise Custer, who grew up near the crash site and now lives in nearby Lambertsville, told me that the locals are sick of hearing all the talk about the memorial — and they are saddened by how little has been done. Still, when relatives come to visit, they all want to go. At a press conference last week in Pennsylvania to announce new fund-raising efforts, David Beamer said much the same thing, albeit with more diplomatic flair.

The 40 folks on that plane that day did what they had to do in about 30 minutes. When I tracked down Debby Borza, treasurer of the Families of Flight 93, I expected to hear exasperation, bitterness, even flat out anger. She was headed back to California to start her junior year at Santa Clara University. Slated to take a later flight, she arrived early at the airport that day so the friend who dropped her off could attend an early class.

United Flight 93 had been due for takeoff from Newark International Airport at a. It started out as a normal flight. The passengers and crew were chatty. Forty-one ordinary people made conversations over Styrofoam coffee cups. It was usual talk. In the cockpit, pilot Jason Dahl was going through preflight stuff. He was 43, cobby build, with a smile like your favorite uncle.

Jason always carried a little box of rocks with him. They were a gift from his son. Directly after this flight, Jason was going to take his wife to London for their fifth anniversary. In the passenger area you had folks like John Talignani 74 , retired bartender, stocky, a World War II vet, a no-nonsense kind of guy. He was one of the millions of long-suffering, tormented souls who call themselves New York Mets fans.

Deora Bodley 20 , a college junior. The vision of loveliness. They say she was one of those natural beauties that caused young men on sidewalks to crash headfirst into lampposts. And Jean Peterson She was traveling with her husband, Don They were going to Yosemite for vacation. So Jean became a crisis counselor and helped pregnant teenagers figure out their lives.

One of the flight attendants was Lorraine Bay Meaning, she was either a glutton for corporate punishment, or she loved her job. Lorraine was a maternal figure to other airline employees, and she was always sending letters. Just to say hi. CeeCee 33 , a Florida girl. She was new to the flight-attendant scene. She was a law enforcement officer to the core, unafraid of confrontation.

After the plane took off, it was obvious that there were bad men on this flight. Somewhere around a. Enough has been written about them. What I will tell you is that they chose the wrong plane. Flight 93 was not filled with 41 passive church mice. Onboard you had Jeremy Glick 31 , a six-foot-one, national collegiate judo champion and blackbelt.

Mark Bingham 31 , a rugby player. But this year, it's more than ever. I stumbled upon this when I was looking up a firefighter I was assigned to honor at a stair climb tomorrow. I love this project ! It's a beautiful tribute to the victims and their families. How can I get involved? My email is Lgarcia09 comcast. Also, I listened to a podcast episode today that had her mother telling her story.

It's a great podcast that brings me to prayerful tears. I have volunteered for a second year to write a memorial for Project Like last year I wanted to remember the heroes from United Flight Dale left it up to each person that volunteered to pick a name s of our choice. I chose 2 names from Flight 93 that did not receive a memorial last year.

She was an idealistic 20 year old. She was the youngest passenger aboard United Flight 93 and was heading back to California, back to her junior year at Santa Clara University when her life was tragically ended despite the courageous acts of her fellow passengers and crew. At the tender age of eleven she wrote, "People ask how, what, where, when and why.

I ask peace. I remember thinking I could make a difference and the world could be a better place. At the age of eleven or even twenty there are no boundaries there are only opportunities. That is how this young woman lived her short precious life. By coincidence, Deora and I share a birthday. Her parents divorced when Deora was only two years old.

This possibly contributed to her being introspective and wanting to help others. She was active in school, captain of the basketball team her senior year in high school, she participated in an AIDS peer program, and volunteered with the Special Olympics and at her local animal shelter.

Deora bodley biography of christopher

As a twenty year old, she wanted a world without war and disease. She lived her life focused on making a contribution to this dream. Her love of writing and her ability to speak fluently in French, contributed to her success while she attended Santa Clara University and participated in America Reads program tutoring children with reading and writing.

One of the children wrote, "Deora made the sun shine brighter. She translated stories from English to French for them. It was obvious Deora had a natural gift in working with children. Her major in college was Psychology and her goal was to become a child psychologist. Deora was a wide eyed young woman. The world was her oyster.

She loved her family and friends and there is no doubt that they love and miss her still.