In the decade-plus following the tragic attacks on September 11, every year Maspeth’s Sam Sampogna and hundreds rode from the crash site in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, through our nation’s capital to Ground Zero.
With volunteers lacking, next year could be the last year they take the ride.
Sampogna recalled the ride as it’s grown and morphed over the years, with nearly 400 riders registered this year. The streets along the ride through Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey were lined with supporters, fire trucks draped with American flags and police escorts. People come out as early as 7 a.m. to show their support in places, but it’s changed a lot since the early rides.We went to the first ride and there was nothing where we went,” Sampogna said, recalling the first visit to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93 crashed.
He pulled out photos of a vacant field and a rolling hill. It was a picturesque scene of nature, with no sign that there was ever a disturbance; no sign of the tragedy that took place.
Now years later, there’s a memorial wall with the names of the victims, which is part of a greater memorial park at the site. Sampogna said every year he’s drawn to the same woman, whose name is placed next to the memory of her unborn child.It seems like every year I’ve gone to this wall, I wind up stopping there,” he said. “It’s just like she’s calling me to say hello.”
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