Motorcycle Riders To Cross America In Tribute To Flight 93 Heroes

SOMERSET, Pa., Aug. 28, 2009 -- A small but determined caravan of motorcycle riders and their supporters will cross the country in a poignant tribute to the 40 heroes who died in freedom's name on September 11, 2001. Ken and Dale Nacke, their cousins Patrick and David White, and several others will cross America beginning on September 3 in a journey they have named "Ride with the Forty." It honors Ken's and Dale's brother Louis "Joey" Nacke II and all of the 40 passengers and crew members who diverted United Flight 93 away from its intended target - Washington, DC - instead crashing in a Shanksville, PA field. The riders will complete the flight path over land beginning in Newark, NJ and ending in San Francisco, CA.

"Ride with the Forty" will take off at 8:42 a.m. - the original departure time for Flight 93 - at Newark Liberty International Airport on September 3, stop in Shanksville later that day, and end at San Francisco on September 11. Along the way, the core group of six riders will visit biker-friendly cities and towns with a traveling temporary memorial, a 6' by 8' section of chain link fence tagged with keepsakes that evokes what now stands at the Shanksville site. People will be able to place tribute items on the traveling memorial and make donations toward the construction of the permanent Flight 93 National Memorial.

"'Ride with the Forty' will finish what the 40 heroes could not. We hope that people will join us as we ride to complete their intended flight path and remember their great sacrifice," said Ken Nacke, member of the Families of Flight 93.

"The traveling temporary Flight 93 memorial is a powerful reminder of the courageous, final act of the 40 passengers and crew," said Patrick White, vice president of the Families of Flight 93. "By taking it with us, we hope to remind America that those who died in freedom's name on September 11 must always be remembered."

Motorcyclists from all over the country have sought out the temporary memorial in those remote Pennsylvania fields. More than one million people from all walks of life have come to pay their respects, but bikers find it especially compelling. Those free spirits and rough riders have made it a destination for thousands who cherish the freedom of the open road.

To join the riders, monitor their progress, or donate to the construction of the permanent National Memorial, visit www.ridewiththe40.org. Look for updates from the road and the specific locations of the convoy and traveling temporary memorial.

  Among the expected stops are:

  --  Joliet, Illinois (September 4)
  --  Omaha, Nebraska (September 5)
  --  Cheyenne, Wyoming  (September 7)
  --  Reno, Nevada  (September 9)

  --  Union City, California (September 10)

The permanent Flight 93 National Memorial is on track to be dedicated on September 11, 2011, the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks. For more information about the Flight 93 National Memorial or to make a donation, visit www.honorflight93.org.