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Pittsburgh Pirates honor family members of United 93 victims

The Pittsburgh Pirates honored the families of flight United 93 victims before their game against the Milwaukee Brewers.
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On the 14th anniversary of 9/11, the Pittsburgh Pirates honored the families of flight United 93 victims before their game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night.

In an attempt to regain control of the hijacked plane, passengers and flight crew thwarted the flight headed toward the U.S. capitol before crashing in a field in Shanksville, Somerset County. Thirty-seven passengers and seven flight crew members died in the terrorist attack.

The Pirates invited the families of victims onto the field for a moment of silence and before throwing out the first pitch. 

Before the game, manager Clint Hurdle told PittsburghSportingNews.com that he would never forget being in Arizona on September 11.

“I don’t know how my parents felt the day JFK was shot, but I imagine that’s what I would have looked like,” Hurdle said. “I remember looking at my mom and dad’s face and they looked out of sorts. I was working out and not having a headset or anything like that, and I went back to my room and flipped on the Today Show in Arizona. I was sitting at the side of the bed and I was out of sorts. To understand in the time off, the gut for what happened, the lives affected, the consequences for four days was overwhelming.”

BAMBERGER: 9/11 and Mike Piazza

Shanksville is about an hour and 20 minute drive from Pittsburgh. 

The Pirates also honored the families of the United 93 victims in 2006 with a video tribute to the passengers and crew before their game against the Brewers.

- Christopher Chavez