Hillsboro couple visits Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania

By Rory Ryan
The Highland County Press

Hillsboro residents John and Kathy Levo visited the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania on Friday, Sept. 11 on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorists attacks.

According to John Levo, "Kathy and I just returned from attending her Bedford, Pa. high school reunion. Bedford is 24 miles from the Flight 93 crash site. As Friday marked the 25th anniversary of that event, we made the stop to pay our respects and to remember what we were doing when we heard the news.  

"Although we have been there at least five times, being there on this exact date 25 years later was emotional."

John Levo, a longtime banker and former Hillsboro City Council member, said the occasion "brought back memories of John Abell and I standing in the bank lobby when the second plane hit the second tower.
  
"John turned to me and said. 'That wasn't an accident.'  

"It was rewarding to just observe how people reacted and grown men were weeping on Friday. Plus, it was interesting just to note the license plates in the parking lot. Kathy – a former educator with the Hillsboro City Schools – and I were there when it was just a temporary memorial and found it moving. We were there again soon after this memorial was opened.

"The one photo that has the roses on it is for Todd Beamer, who is known for his "Let's roll" comment that led to the passengers forcing the terrorists to take the plane down, saving a possible second attack in Washington, D.C."

All 40 passengers and crew members died in the attempt to retake the plane. They were among 2,977 Americans who died that day 25 years ago in multiple terrorist attacks.

On Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, it was clear that the sacrifice of the 40 passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93 are alive and well in American hearts.

Had they not summoned the courage to do what they did, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said at the Flight 93 National Memorial in southwestern Pennsylvania, the world "would be very different today."

Twenty-five years ago, Flight 93 left Newark International Airport at 8:42 a.m., bound for San Francisco. During the next hour, three other terrorist-commandeered jetliners were crashed into both towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

"This also brought back my memories of losing a great customer in the collapse of the Trade Center," Levo said. "His wife had delivered twin boys about two weeks before the attack. During a trip to New York City to visit our son, David, we went to the Tower Memorial and I found his name on the memorial of those who died.

"If you have never been to the memorial, I can't urge you enough to put this on your must-do list."

Below are Kathy and John Levo.