On Friday, the community in Union City gathered to honor the brave women and men on United Airlines Flight 93 that fought back against the hijackers during 9/11. There were 40 people on Flight 93, including 33 passengers and seven crew members; all of them fought back against the hijackers and sa crificed their lives to keep Flight 93 from reaching the hijackers’ target on Sept. 11, 2001. The plane ended up crashing into a field near Pennsylvania. “They knew that they were going to be used as a weapon of mass destruction and they chose to die rather than let that happen,” Union City Flight 93 Memorial Founder Michael L. Emerson said. 9/11 37 minutes ago Grandcolas honors late wife and passengers of Flight 93 to generation not born on 9/11 9/11 2 hours ago Students at Captain Jason Dahl Elementary in San Jose honor Flight 93 victims Retired Marine Michael Emerson brought his vision for a memorial to Union City in 2002. Five years later, it opened as the world’s first municipal 9/11 Memorial, a place he hopes will keep the memory of the heroes sacrifice alive for generations to come. “These stones, you have a mirror on the front which reflects how you would’ve acted. The stone side and back are unfinished, and it represents an unfinished life,” he said. Lt. Col Frank Jamerson was in high school at the time of the attacks. His mom’s twin sister Wanda Green was a flight attendant born and raised in Oakland. Green was on Flight 93. “It’s hard, but also the fact that they were the flight that fought back, there is a large sense of pride. It is one of the reasons I’m wearing the uniform today,” he said. “It was a very devastating impact.” Kris Black hasn’t missed a 9/11 ceremony since the memorial opened in 2007. A fellow flight attendant’s son was also on that plane. “It was scary. Actually, as it was happening, I was at the airport and we knew a plane was missing and no one knew it and that’s when we found out it was Flight 93,” he said. “We have to be here every year, especially as crew members, too.” ...read more read less