Lori Guadagno Finds Peace at United 93 Crash Site 25 Years After 9/11

Q: What deeply personal childhood artifacts are being unveiled to reveal the vibrant, untold lives of the Flight 93 heroes before their final moments?

The newly unveiled artifacts are intimate childhood keepsakes from Richard Guadagno’s early life — his childhood writings, artwork and even a handprint — donated by his sister, Lori Guadagno, to the National Park Service. Those items matter because they reveal the person he was long before Sept. 11: a boy drawn to nature, plants, animals, fishing and art. Family members said the materials show that the life he later built as a U.S. Fish and Wildlife ranger closely reflected those early passions. At the Flight 93 National Memorial, these personal pieces are part of a broader effort to show not only how the 40 passengers and crew died, but how they lived. Other displayed mementos include Richard Guadagno’s ranger uniform and office desk calendar, flight attendant Lorraine Bay’s uniform, and Deora Bodley’s Brownie sash and Girl Scout badges. Together, the artifacts give visitors a fuller portrait of the Flight 93 victims as creative, active and deeply human people — not only as heroes in their final moments, but as individuals with rich lives, dreams and identities.

3 articles · Updated · NPR · Sep 12

Twenty-five years after losing her brother on United 93, Lori Guadagno says the Pennsylvania crash site now gives her a sense of peace and connection.
That bond is rooted in Sept. 11, 2001, when her brother was killed aboard the hijacked flight during the attacks.
For Guadagno, the site has become a place of remembrance where grief has shifted into a more enduring personal link to her brother.
Her reflection underscores how, a quarter-century after 9/11, families of victims still navigate loss through memorial spaces tied to the attacks.