Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Greed shows it's ugly face as Flight 93 memorial land in dispute


As the 40 passengers of United Flight 93 battled the hijackers that took control of their plane on September 11, 2001 they fought to stop the four hijackers from crashing the plane into our nation's capital. This event ended with the heroes of United Flight 93 giving their lives by crashing the plane in a field in Shanksville, PA. to save the lives of hundred if not thousands in Washington, DC.

As a temporary memorial was constructed by caring people who visited the site from day one it became obvious that this was now hallow ground that represented the bravery and spirit of the people on the plane that day.

On the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks plans for an official memorial site were announced. Through private donations and some money from the government things began to move along smoothly... until today. Mike Svonavec, owner of the land, wants $10 million for his 273-acre property in Somerset County, far more than the per-acre amount paid for nearby land. That is over 9 1/2 million dollars more than the land is worth. Mr. Svonavec knows that there is only a small amount of money to work with and decided to ignore that fact and is trying to soak every cent possible from this tragedy.

Mike Svonavec needs to remember that the 40 people on United Flight 93 gave their lives to save many others and that no one is asking him to give anything. All that's ask is that he goes with a very generous selling price and let the memorial that means so much to this country and the relatives and friends of everyone who died on that day be built.

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