Flight 93 Speakers Series concludes with family members sharing stories

The Flight 93 National Memorial 2017 Speaker Series will conclude this weekend at the memorial when two family members who lost loved ones in 9/11 crash share their stories.

Officials said Deborah Borza and Calvin Wilson will be the featured speakers at 1 and 3 p.m. Saturday and at 1 p.m. Sunday in the Learning Center at the memorial, located off Route 30 in Somerset County.

Borza's daughter, Deora Bodley, was the youngest passenger aboard United Flight 93, and Wilson's brother-in-law, LeRoy Homer, was the first officer. The two will discuss their experiences as part of the memorial project over the last 16 years.

United Flight 93 was among four jetliners hijacked the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, by terrorists. The hijackers crashed two planes into the World Trade Center in New York and a third into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Authorities believe the 40 passengers and crew aboard Flight 93, often referred to as the first soldiers in America's War on Terror, died preventing hijackers from crashing the jet into another target in the nation's capital.

Wilson is a past treasurer of the Families of Flight 93. He was appointed to the Flight 93 Federal Advisory Commission responsible for making planning, design and construction recommendations for the memorial.

Borza also is past treasurer of the Families of Flight 93 and the past vice president and current secretary of the Friends of Flight 93. She also participates with the Pennsylvania Office of Victim Advocate as a speaker for programs held at state correctional facilities.

The Flight 93 Speaker Series, sponsored by Somerset Trust, is free and open to the public.

Debra Erdley is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 412-320-7996 or derdley@tribweb.com or via Twitter @deberdley_trib