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Flight 93 Memorial Stays Open Late

SHANKSVILLE (KDKA) -- The temporary memorial at the Flight 93 crash site stayed open a half hour later than normal Monday night to accommodate people who wanted to visit after getting off work.

Park rangers say they had three times the normal number of visitors one day after the announcement that the U.S. found Osama bin Laden and killed him.

Several of the people visiting Monday evening had attended the National Rifle Association convention in Pittsburgh wanted to see the Shanksville site before returning home.

"Relief, I think," said Paul Nelson of San Francisco when he was asked his reaction to bin Laden's death. "Big sigh of relief and glee."

Many of the visitors said this was justice for the families of 9/11 victims who are stilling dealing with a horrible loss and for the families of servicemen and women who have been killed.

Renee Vega, from Mission Viejo, Calif., could not hold back the tears as she stood at the memorial.

"They were heroes, you know?" She said of the passengers on Flight 93 who would not let terrorists crash the plane into a target in Washington DC. She said visiting the site for her "was a very humbling moment."

The first phase of the permanent memorial here will be done for September, the 10th anniversary of the attacks.

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