Somerset County coroner recalls work after Flight 93 tragedy

Wally Miller couldn't have imagined where life would lead him the morning he walked into his family's Somerset funeral home on Sept. 11, 2001.

Within hours, the small-town funeral director who doubled as Somerset County coroner would find himself in charge of a crime scene that would change the history of America and launch him on a decade-long journey with the family members of Flight 93.

Miller, who is still the county coroner, shared that journey this weekend with visitors at the Flight 93 National Memorial as a featured guest at the memorial's summer Speakers Series.

A joint venture of the National Park Service and the Friends of Flight 93, the Speakers Series offers visitors an opportunity hear firsthand accounts of first responders and family members who were drawn to the crash site that day and years afterward as they worked to establish the memorial just outside the small town of Shanksville.

The 40 passengers and crew members died when the jetliner went down as they fought to wrest control of it from hijackers intent on reaching the nation's capital. Their actions have long since been memorialized as the first shot fired in America's ongoing war on terror.

For Miller, who was dispatched to the scene moments after the plane went down, it was the challenge of a lifetime.

“We didn't have much in the way of resources,” recalled Miller, a soft-spoken man who describes himself as a “rube.”

“My entire budget was $60,000. We were talking once, and I remember I said if a jet airplane ever crashes here I'll spend my entire budget just calling all the people.”

Indeed he did. And in the end, the total cost of the investigation that drew members of the state police, FBI, Justice Department and independent consultants would total $5 million, Miller said.

Initially, he was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task.

“One thing that will stick in my mind until the day I die is walking (through the crash site), I could hear melted plastic dripping onto the trees and smell jet fuel. It was surreal,” Miller said.

It would take painstaking efforts from all involved to secure the site and begin the task of recovering and identifying remains.

“Most of the time, I was just running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to put out fires,” he said.

Then there were the various state and federal agencies that were called to the site that had roles to play.

“But I knew I was the Harry Truman of Flight 93. The buck stopped with me,” he said.

He finally determined he could handle things as long as he could make those initial 40 calls to the family members of the passengers and crew.

With those calls, a country coroner would become a voice for families who were just beginning to comprehend the magnitude of the sacrifice their loved ones had made for America.

Several months later, after hearing that the site would likely become a national memorial, Miller again reached out to the families and offered to talk with them at a gathering a Newark, N.J.

Miller said although he initially encountered opposition from officials with the FBI and the airlines, he knew family members were looking for answers. He was determined to offer what he could and advise them that their input would be critical in the years going forward.

That meeting was the genesis of the effort that culminated in the creation of the memorial that opened more than a decade later and now draws visitors from across the country to hear the story of Flight 93.

“It was really moving and opened our eyes to things we didn't know about or think about,”said Gentry Thomason, who was visiting from Arkansas with her children Saturday.

“We're looking for more information. He's going to be doing a school report on it,” she said, gesturing to her 12-year-old son, Bentley.

Miller grinned when moderator Tom McMillen talked about how the families of Flight 93 came together around the Somerset County coroner.

“I just answered phone calls. I still do,” Miller said. “I did what I could with the gifts that were given to me.”

Even more than that, McMillan said Miller became a standard bearer for a rural Pennsylvania community that reached out to honor the memory of the passengers and crew of Flight 93.

“I think Wally really embodied the spirit of Somerset County for the families of the victims,” McMillan said.

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