SHANKSVILLE, Pa. – Alan Hantman was working at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked four airplanes and crashed two into the World Trade Center towers in New York and a third into the Pentagon near Washington, D.C.

The fourth plane came down in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, falling short of what investigators believe was its intended target – the U.S. Capitol – thanks to the actions of passengers and crew, who stormed the cockpit.

The Flight 93 National Memorial Visitor Center was dedicated and officially opened Thursday. Hundreds withstood a steady drizzle to help launch the interactive tribute to the 40 who died there, and perhaps saved thousands of lives in Washington.

Hantman was among speakers that also included Sally Jewell, secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior; Paul Murdoch, designer of the Flight 93 National Memorial; Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and others.

Hantman told of visiting the Flight 93 site in 2012 to light candles and place a replica of the Statue of Freedom, which has stood atop the Capitol dome since 1863.

That statue replica is among the many items now on display at the Visitor Center.

“How many people, how many members of Congress, who remained in the Capitol and remained on Capitol Hill, would have died were it not for the heroism of those innocents aboard Flight 93?” Hantman said.

He recounted the fear people experienced 14 years ago when the Capitol was evacuated as shocking reports came in from New York and the Pentagon nearby.

Hantman recalled that many lawmakers and staff members continued to work in their offices, and that First Lady Laura Bush was involved in a photo shoot across the street that morning. Hantman, the Capitol’s staff architect, said he was one of the last people to leave the building.

“Everyone furtively watched the northern skies, toward Pennsylvania,” he said, “listening for the sounds of a plane.”

Speakers echoed the theme of sacrifice by the flight crew and passengers on Flight 93, and the lives saved elsewhere.

“Today, we take an ordinary place and recognize it for the extraordinary story that played out here on Sept. 11, 2001,” Jewell said.

“We see the real honor of the 40 and what they did in these exhibits,” she said.

“It’s quite possible that these people changed the course of American history,” Wolf said. “Because of what these people did on that plane, Washington was spared. They did what they did, and that has made all the difference.”

Jonathan Jarvis, director of the National Park Service, noted that more than 100,000 people have donated to the memorial effort – “some gave pennies, some gave millions.”

The Wall of Names and main memorial area opened in 2011.

Visitors to the site can now walk along the plane’s path through high walls to an overlook deck far above the impact spot. Along with the Visitor Center, the new area includes the adjacent Learning Center, where leaders hope to see student groups or even corporate staffs gather and discuss topics such as sacrifice, leadership and community involvement.

While the Visitor Center’s mission includes honoring those who died in the crash, it also involves sharing the events of that day – through artifacts, displays, news footage and high-tech exhibits – especially for those born after 9/11.

“Finally, after 14 years, we have a Visitor Center and a park to tell that story,” Jarvis said, “certainly for those of us who lived through 9/11 and remember the events of that day, but also for a new generation, individuals born since then who do not remember, but who need to know.”

“This Visitor Center will assure that people for generations to come will not forget what happened here on Sept. 11, 2001,” said Roland Corvington, who served as the FBI’s incident commander for the Flight 93 investigation.

Murdoch called the Flight 93 site an “unfinished memorial” – and wasn’t referring to the tower that still must be built and trees that are yet to be planted.

“What will make this memorial more complete are those yet to visit,” Murdoch said.

“It’s the child yet to come who knows nothing about the events of 9/11.

“Each new person helps to complete this memorial, but it will remain unfinished as long as freedom is alive.”

Minemyer is the editor of the Johnstown, (Pennsylvania) Tribune-Democrat.