WHERE HEROES DIED PILOTS PAY HOMAGE TO THOSE WHO DERAILED HIJACKERS' PLAN.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

SHANKSVILLE, Pa. - It stands alone in the middle of an old strip-mining field - America's symbol of defiance.

Old Glory marking the spot where United Airlines Flight 93 went down last Sept. 11 and 40 terrorist-fighting passengers became heroes in our hearts forever.

It is here that 50 pilots from every state in the country came Thursday at dusk on the first leg of the Flight Across America to deliver the flags of all 50 states to the people of New York at ground zero Sunday.

Here that John Martins of Moorpark, carrying the California state flag, and Norman Schwartz of Calabasas, carrying the Hawaiian flag presented to his Hawaiian-born daughter-in-law on the USS Arizona Memorial last month, knelt in front of a people's memorial to the passengers of Flight 93. It's a memorial that takes your breath away.

``You can read about it, see pictures of it, but until you're here, you really can't feel it,'' Schwartz said.

Thursday night, a few hundred people - pilots and their families and people just stopping by for the first time - felt the power, the emotion.

``It still never fails to make me cry when I see people, especially mothers and grandmothers, crying when they see this tribute,'' said Janie Kiehl, a local resident who lives a mile away from the crash site.

She is one of 40 local women in this small town of 245 people who take turns coming here every day, dressed in red, white and blue and wearing a site ambassador pin.

``After the crash, it started with one woman volunteering and just kept growing,'' she said. ``When people come here with questions, we want them to know the true story.''

And people do come, by the thousands, Janie said. They drive down a one-lane road of farmhouses with flags in front of every one. Over a hill and down a rise that leads to an old strip-mining field where 40 people died fighting terrorism a year ago Wednesday.

``Look at this,'' Martins says, picking up one of the hundreds of painted rocks at the foot of the 50-foot-long memorial, every inch of it covered in love.

The words ``Freedom is not free'' are painted on the rock. Isn't that the truth, both men agreed.

Every inch of ground and fencing is covered with something - makeshift signs promising ``We will never forget'' and ``God bless all the heroes of Flight 93.''

There are letters and crayon drawings from school kids, caps and hats from every city and state fire and police department, flags, pictures, and a portrait of an American eagle with a tear running down its cheek.

``What makes it truly moving and so beautiful is that it's not formalized but something that's coming directly from people's hearts and emotions,'' Schwartz said, overcome with emotion himself.

Donna Miller and Nancy Aldrich, a couple of commercial airline pilots carrying the Colorado state flag on this trip, arranged this first stop at Shanksville for the Flight Across America.

They place a red, white and blue wreath at the foot of the memorial as everyone bows their heads in a moment of silence for the victims of Flight 93.

The women have been flying together across the country for 10 days now, stopping in small towns and talking mainly to children about 9-11.

``We met two little girls in Kansas who wrote a poem about the heroism of the people on Flight 93 that just breaks your heart,'' Aldrich said.

``Don't be fooled. Kids care about what's going on.''

As proof, she opens the back of her airplane to show more than 1,000 letters the women received thanking them for taking the historic flight.

``We've been reading them along the way and bursting into tears,'' Miller said.

Locally, the Moorpark Unified School District has already contacted Martins, asking him to speak to children in the district about this historic flight he is taking with co-pilot Ken Coolidge, who also lives in Moorpark.

The men have agreed to visit every school in the district with a slide show of the trip when they return home, Martins said.

Earlier, Schwartz, Martins and all the pilots stood at the memorial talking about how mild the weather was across the country this week, allowing them all to get to Shanksville on time for this ceremony.

``It's almost like God meant us to be here,'' one of the pilots said.

A little while later, Jim Ream of nearby Johnstown, Pa., took his elderly mother's arm and led her to the memorial.

Florence Ream is 86 years old and legally blind, but as she slowly walked along the memorial, feeling her way, she became overcome with emotion and began to cry.

``You don't have to see all the love the people left here to feel it,'' she said to her son, leaning on his arm.

``No, Mama, you don't,'' Jim Ream said, looking past the memorial out into an old strip-mining field about a hundred yards away.

To a spot right in the middle where America's symbol of defiance waved slowly and proudly in the wind.

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Photo:

(color) John Martins, left, and Norman Schwartz admire the memorial to the victims of Flight 93 near the crash site in Shanksville, Pa.

Gary Tramontina/Associated Press