Nearly one thousand entries have been submitted to the competition set up to select a design for the permanent memorial to honor the passengers who lost their lives when United Flight 93 crashed in a field in southwestern Pennsylvania on the morning of September 11, 2001, and an exhibition of the entries has opened online.

The Flight 93 Memorial Design Competition — a partnership among the Families of Flight 93, the Flight 93 Advisory Commission, the Flight 93 Memorial Task Force, and the National Park Service — was made possible through grants of $500,000 each from the Pittsburgh-based Heinz Endowments and the Miami-based John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. A nine-member jury comprising family members, partners, and design professionals will select five finalists in late January, each of whom will receive an honorarium to further develop their concept for the second stage of the competition. A second jury will thenmeet in July to select the winning entry for recommendation to a federal advisory commission, with the winning design to be announced in late September.

"We are so humbled by the depth and breath of sentiments expressed in these design submittals," said Flight 93 Advisory Commission chair John Reynolds. "The passengers and crew gave their lives here to save our nation's capital, unwittingly winning the first battle in the war on terrorism. This national memorial will serve forever as a tribute to that moment in our nation's history, and generations to come will never forget their heroism."

To view the designs and/or submit your comments, visit: http://www.flight93memorialproject.com/dessta1geign.asp.