NJ and the 9/11 Flight 93 Memorial

With the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approaching, Essex County Country Club in West Orange has organized the Flight 93 National Memorial Golf Fundraiser to take place Aug 23 and 24th. It's not too late to participate.

Why a golf fundraiser in New Jersey for a national park and memorial being built in Shanksville, Pennsylvania? It actually makes a lot of sense. Read on...

Flight 93 was the one plane of the four hijacked that morning that originated at Newark Liberty Airport. As is well known, when the passengers learned of the other hijackings and concluded that their plane was probably on course to target the U.S. Capitol or the White House, they defiantly organized a counter-attack.

Its leaders famously included Todd Beamer, 32, of Cranbury, whose rallying cry, "Let's roll!" has become legend, along with the heroism of all onboard. They succeeded in bringing down Flight 93 in a field in Shanksville, Pa., well short of its intended target.

Seventeen of the 40 passengers/crew on Flight 93 were New Jersey residents. (Details below.) Of the 3,042 victims of the September 11 attacks, 694 were from New Jersey, placing the Garden State second behind New York's 1,747 deaths in terms of lives lost.

Journalist Joe Bargmann, a member of Essex County Country Club, became acutely aware of all this in writing stories for the Flight 93 Memorial Newsletter, which is published by the National Parks Foundation. Bargmann had helped organize an outing at ECCC last August to show off the newly renovated golf course, one of NJ's best, to the media.

With the support of club president Dennis Petrocelli and the club board of governors, Bargmann decided to turn this year's outing into what Bargmann calls "golf for a purpose"--raising $100,000 to further the construction of the Flight 93 national park and memorial in Shanksville, scheduled to open for the tenth anniversary of 9/11 next year.

The event is shaping up to be a big deal, with a VIP banquet on Monday evening, August 23 and the shotgun round of golf on the renovated course the next day (which happens to be the same week the Barclays golf tournament brings the top pro players to Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus).

Tom Ridge, the former Pennsylvania governor and the first U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, who is honorary co-chair of the Flight 93 National Memorial Campaign, is the fundraiser's guest of honor. Special guests include Chris Sullivan, chairman of the Flight 93 National Memorial Campaign, and co-founder and board member of OSI Restaurant Partners, owners of Outback Steakhouse, Bonefish Grill, and others.

Participants will also have the chance to meet David Beamer, father of Todd Beamer.

For more information or to sign up by donating to the cause, call Bargmann at 917-207-8745 or email him at jbargmann@gmail.com and visit the fundraiser website, FL93golfevent.org.

Alphabetical list of NJ passengers of Flight 93

Bay, Lorraine Grace - 58 - Highstown - On United 93

Beamer, Todd - 32 - Cranbury - On United 93

Cashman, William Joseph - 57 - North Bergen - On United 93

Cushing, Patricia - 69 - Bayonne - On United 93

DeLuca, Joseph - 52 - Ledgewood - On United 93

Driscoll, Patrick Joseph - 70 - Manalapan - On United 93

Felt, Edward Porter - 41 - Matawan - On United 93

Folger, Jane C. - 73 - Bayonne - On United 93

Fraser, Colleen Laura - 51 - Elizabeth - On United 93

Glick, Jeremy - 31 - West Milford - On United 93

Green, Wanda Anita - 49 - Linden - On United 93

Homer, LeRoy - 36 - Marlton - On United 93

Marcin, Hilda - 79 - Budd Lake - On United 93

Peterson, Donald Arthur - 66 - Spring Lake - On United 93

Peterson, Jean Hoadley - 55 - Spring Lake - On United 93

Rivera, Waleska Martinez - 38 - Jersey City - On United 93

Wainio, Honor Elizabeth - 27 - Watchung - On United 93

Tags: West Orange | 9/11 | Flight 93 | Essec County Country Club