Published: July 18, 2007 11:10 pm      

Postal service to offer Flight 93 postmark

SHANKSVILLE — The U.S. Postal Service said it will offer another Flight 93 pictorial cancellation commemorating the heroes of Sept. 11, 2001.

The cancellation postmark bears the image of the Thunder Bell, located at the Flight 93 Memorial Chapel, and will be available beginning Sept. 11, the sixth anniversary of the crash.

It is the fifth pictorial cancellation offered at the Shanksville post office in honor of the 40 in-nocent passengers and crew killed in the crash.

United Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville after it was hijacked by four Islamic terrorists.

“It draws attention to the heroes of Flight 93,” said the Rev. Alphonse T. Mascherino, chapel director.

“It’s important keep their memories alive,” he said. “A pictorial cancellation is one way to do that.”

The tolling of Thunder Bell, which towers 42 feet above the ground, can be heard at the crash site 3 miles away.

“The voice of Flight 93 will never be silenced,” Mascherino said.

The cancellation will be offered at the Shanksville post office Sept. 11 and will be available for 30 days, Postmaster Kathy Bates said.

It can be obtained in person or by mail.

“I’ll start getting calls as soon as it’s out,” she said. “Some people collect them. Some people just want keepsakes.”

Last year, the post office offered a cancellation bearing the image of the Flight 93 crew monument, also located at the chapel, and had 7,000 re-quests, Bates said. Special cancellations are of particular interest to stamp collectors.