The tour began last Saturday, May 2, in Lower Manhattan and will conclude Sept. 11, marking the 25-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks, for a private event in New York City.

On Thursday, the tour made a stop at the Flight 93 National Memorial, the final resting place for the 37 passengers and three crew members of United Airlines’ Flight 93.

During a ceremony, the passengers and crew members were remembered as having changed the course of American history within a few moments.

Tunnels to Towers Foundation chairman and chief executive officer Frank Siller speaks Thursday at the Flight 93 National Memorial during the Steel Across America tour stop. Steel Across America is a national tour of a steel beam recovered from the South Tower in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Mirror photo by Matt Churella

From the time the plane was hijacked at 9:28 a.m., they had about 35 minutes to gather information and develop a plan to stop the terrorists from reaching their intended target, widely considered to be the U.S. Capitol building.

During a struggle to regain control of the cockpit, the plane crashed at 10:03 a.m. in an abandoned strip mine near Shanksville, about 18 minutes of flying time away from the Washington, D.C., area.

“Because of the forty (passengers and crew members), hope endured in the face of tragedy,” said foundation board member Brad Blakeman, who was a member of President George W. Bush’s senior staff at the White House during 9/11.

“We must never forget what they did over the skies of Western Pennsylvania,” he said.

U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, who delivered remarks via a prerecorded video, said the Tunnel to Towers Foundation understands that “never forget” isn’t just a slogan; it’s a call to action.

Pittsburgh resident Jon Ruffley and his family pay their respects to the 40 passengers and crew members who lost their lives aboard the hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001. From left is Ruffley's daughter, Saoirse; his wife, Teesta; who's holding their daughter, Stephania; and Ruffley, who's holding their child, Cubby. Mirror photo by Matt Churella

The foundation is named in memory of Brooklyn firefighter Stephen G. Siller, who was on his way to play golf with his brothers when he got word over his scanner of a plane hitting the World Trade Center’s north tower.

According to the foundation’s website, Siller drove his truck to the entrance of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, which had already been closed for security purposes. Determined to carry out his duty, Siller strapped 60 pounds of firefighting gear on his back and raced on foot through the tunnel to the Twin Towers, where he gave up his life while saving others.

Today, the foundation carries out its mission to “do good” by providing mortgage-free homes to the families of fallen first responders and by building specifically adapted smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders, officials said.

Remembering 9/11

McCormick said the steel beam is a “powerful artifact” that “serves as a solemn tribute to the lives lost, the heroism of our first responders and the enduring resilience and courage of the American people.”

Stephen Clark, superintendent of the National Parks of Western Pennsylvania, gifts Keith Ragan of Kentucky a journal and pen Thursday at the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville. Ragan is driving a steel beam from the World Trade Center's south tower to over 35 cities and 21 states for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. The tour will conclude on Sept. 11 at Ground Zero, the spot in Lower Manhattan where the twin towers fell. Mirror photo by Matt Churella

The beam, which is 21 feet and nine inches long, is a memory of a clear morning that turned into unimaginable darkness, Blakeman said.

It is the echo of sirens and screams that now carries the weight of silence and remembrance, Blakeman added.

“It lays beaten and scarred, reminding us of the damage caused to a city and to a nation,” he said. “Engraved within it are the souls of those lost.”

Members of the public were encouraged to touch the beam, something Jake Scott and his partner DJ Reynor drove from Frostburg, Maryland, just to do.

Both Scott and Reynor said putting a hand on the steel beam touched their hearts and made them think of where they were on Sept. 11, 2001.

Scott was asleep when the north tower was hit about 8:46 a.m., noting he was working second shift at the time. Upon waking up, he saw footage of the south tower being hit and collapsing.

“I was just in awe of what tragedy took place,” he said. “That wasn’t supposed to happen in this country and it did.”

Reynor said her son was in kindergarten at the time, so she went to get him from school after watching the “Today” show.

She remembers crying and praying for days because she didn’t know what was going to happen in the aftermath of 9/11.

Allen Sullivan, who lives less than a mile away from the crash site, said he was working at Fleetwood Folding Trailers, a now-defunct camping trailer manufacturer in Somerset, when he heard the news on the radio.

“Every time it would come on over the radio, it got closer to my house,” Sullivan said, adding the state police wouldn’t let him down by his house upon coming home that night.

“I had to show identification. I had to park up here and walk in,” he said. “You never think it could fall down in your backyard.”

Pittsburgh resident Jon Ruffley has family ties to Gallitzin Borough, where his father grew up and some of his cousins went to school at Penn Cambria.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Ruffley was in third grade. He remembers being taken to another teacher’s classroom and not being told anything about the attacks.

“We just got a day of worksheets and we were all like, ‘OK, this is kind of weird,'” he said.

Ruffley didn’t realize the impact of 9/11 until he learned about it as a high school student in an AP government class. His teacher showed the class photos of people jumping out of the World Trade Center, an image that stuck with him, he said.

“I can’t imagine being in that situation. It makes me sick, and I always think about this living so close,” Ruffley said, adding he and his wife, Teesta, brought their kids with them to the ceremony so they could learn about what happened on that day.

The ceremony

The steel arrived about 10 a.m. Thursday in a truck driven by Keith Ragan of Kentucky, who was escorted by Pennsylvania State Police with an aisle of honor from law enforcement and first responders.

Stephen Clark, superintendent of the National Parks of Western Pennsylvania, said he met Ragan Wednesday. During the interaction, Ragan expressed how proud he was to transport the steel beam for Tunnel to Towers.

“Being the son of a newspaper reporter, I couldn’t help but ask him this: ‘Keith, are you keeping a journal?'” Clark said.

After Ragan responded, “No, I don’t think so,” Clark bought a journal and a pen, which he presented to Ragan during the ceremony.

Stephen Siller Jr., the youngest son of Stephen G. Siller, said the Flight 93 National Memorial was “one of the most important stops we’ll make along the way” of the tour.

He presented Clark with a gift of his own — a commemorative, custom-built United States flag made out of steel.

Siller said the Flight 93 National Memorial is what the Steel Across America tour is all about — remembering and recognizing the thousands of people who “responded with the most beautiful and selfless actions imaginable” in the face of evil.

Thursday’s stop marked the fourth day of the steel tour, which will head to Atlanta next for a May 14 private event.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.