Panetta calls Flight 93 passengers "American patriots" during visit to national memorial

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta (left) visits the Flight 93 National Memorial with Patrick White, a representative of victim's families, during ceremonies commemorating the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in Shanksville, Pa., on Sept. 10, 2012. / AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN/POOL

(AP) SHANKSVILLE, Pa. - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says the Flight 93 National Memorial in western Pennsylvania "is the final resting place of American patriots."

Panetta visited the memorial Monday for the first time, paying his respects to the 40 passengers and crew members who died during the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

He walked down to the wooded area where the plane crashed and met with relatives of people who were on the plane.

United Flight 93 was traveling from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco when it was hijacked by four terrorists. The 9/11 Commission said the terrorists likely wanted to crash the plane into the White House or the U.S. Capitol, but the jet went down in a field near Shanksville, Pa., after passengers fought back.

[kamikaze128]

They were shot down. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6Xoxaf1Al0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo1BFV7MHzM

[mjlewis6]

There is more than enough cellphone records to show the passengers went after the hijackers. "Let's Go!" may not make an impression on you for passengers storming and fighting for control, but even considering your theory of a shoot down, the fact that the debris field is so narrow discounts the shoot down theory. Plus the black box of flight control records also fit a control-oriented dive.