2006年VOA标准英语-After 9/11 Site Visit, Rumsfeld Says War o

By Al Pessin
Shanksville, Pennsylvania
28 March 2006

U.S. Defense¹ Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made his first visit to the site of the September 11, 2001 crash of United Airlines flight 93 on Monday, and said the passengers who overpowered hijackers on the plane began the fight against terrorism - a fight he said must continue in order to protect freedom.

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Superintendent² Hanley (in hat) shows Secretary Rumsfeld some of the makeshift monuments at the Flight 93 Memorial
  

It is a windswept field of brown grass. There is nothing to distinguish it from thousands of others like it in rural southwestern Pennsylvania - nothing except what happened here one Tuesday morning foru and a half years ago.

"The plane actually came in from that direction, came directly this way and crashed into the field, if you can see the American flag," said National Park Service Superintendent Joanna Hanley.

Rumsfeld: "I can."

Hanley: "In between the flag and the trees at 580 miles an hour [930 kph]."

 
Some of the mementos³ along the fence at the Flight 93 Memorial
  
That is National Park Service Superintendent Joanna Hanley, of the Flight 93 Memorial Project, who gave Secretary Rumsfeld a tour of the site on Monday. She showed him the benches made by schoolchildren, and engraved⁴ with the names of all 40 victims. She showed him the small monuments that have been built by various groups. At the base of one, Secretary Rumsfeld put a small medallion with his name and the seal of the Defense Department. She showed him the fence where some of the 150,000 annual visitors put notes, or signs, or pictures or keepsakes to honor the dead. And Ms. Hanley took the secretary to the exact spot, far across the field, near a grove⁵ of trees, where Flight 93 went down. She told him it is just three seconds of flying time from the local elementary school.

"The first responders, when they came, there was nothing there," explained Joanna Hanley. "They actually thought they were coming out on a rescue effort but they couldn't find anything."

 
Flags and a wreath mark the exact spot of the crash of Flight 93 
  
Only family members and special visitors are allowed to go to the crash site itself. It is marked only by two small American flags. Ms. Hanley says the families consider the spot a cemetery⁶, the final resting place of their loved ones.

Investigators⁷ have concluded that the hijackers wanted to fly the plane to Washington, just 250 kilometers away, and crash it into a building, perhaps the Capitol where the Congress was meeting. The passengers fought back against the hijackers and prevented the attack on Washington, but they lost their lives in the process.

 
Secretary Rumsfeld speaks to reporters at the Flight 93 Memorial 
  
Secretary Rumsfeld paid tribute to them during his visit.

"This crash site marks the place where America really started to fight back," said Donald Rumsfeld.

The secretary took the theme of "fighting back" with him to his next stop on Monday, the U.S. Army War College not far away. There he told senior officers taking a year to study such subjects as strategy and international affairs, that they and all Americans must continue the fight that the heroes of Flight 93 began.

"Today there are some who want America to go back on the defensive⁸, to the strategy that failed before September 11th," he said. "They say that a retreat from Iraq would provide an American escape from the violence. However, we know that any reprieve⁹ would be short lived. To terrorists, the West would remain the great Satan. The war that the terrorists began would continue. And free people would continue to be their targets."

But Secretary Rumsfeld acknowledged that all Americans do not agree with him. He said the government needs to do a better job of convincing people at home and abroad of the need to fight the terrorists and protect the free way of life, and he said the U.S. troop presence in Iraq is part of that. An official said most of the military officers in his audience have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, or both, and that one Iraqi and one Afghan officer were also there. Secretary Rumsfeld said the most significant division in the current American political debate is, in his words, "between those who realize that we are, in fact, a nation at war, and those who do not."

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

3 mementos   

纪念品，令人回忆的东西( memento的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The museum houses a collection of mementos, materials and documents. 博物馆保存着很多回忆录以及文献资料。
• This meant, however, that no one was able to retrieve irreplaceable family mementos. 然而，这也意味着谁也没能把无可替代的家庭纪念品从火中救出来。

4 engraved   

v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中）

参考例句：

• The silver cup was engraved with his name. 银杯上刻有他的名字。
• It was prettily engraved with flowers on the back. 此件雕刻精美，背面有花饰图案。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 grove   

n.林子，小树林，园林

参考例句：

• On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
• The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。

6 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

7 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

9 reprieve   

n.暂缓执行（死刑）；v.缓期执行；给…带来缓解

参考例句：

• He was saved from the gallows by a lastminute reprieve.最后一刻的缓刑令把他从绞架上解救了下来。
• The railway line, due for closure, has been granted a six-month reprieve.本应停运的铁路线获准多运行6 个月。