Laura Beachy challenged her audience, who gathered for the screening of her new film about what happens to witnesses.
‘In history books someone had to witness an event to make it memorable,’ Beachy said. ‘But what happens to the witnesses whose whole existence is centered around one moment of tragedy?’  
The documentary, ‘We Were Quiet Once,’ produced by Beachy and fellow student Cory Sage, was screened for students and professors in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium on Monday evening.
‘We Were Quiet Once’ focuses on the story of individuals who witnessed United Airlines Flight 93 crash into a field in Somerset County, Pa., on Sept. 11, 2001. The crash killed 40 people, shaking the small, previously unnoticed town to its core.
Beachy, a senior television, radio and film and anthropology major, grew up in Somerset. She witnessed firsthand how the tragedy transformed the small town.
‘I was 11,’ she said. ‘I remember everything.’
The film opens with Beachy describing Somerset as a picture-perfect small town in southwestern Pennsylvania. She recalls her teacher telling her about the events in New York City and being thankful. She thought nothing like that could ever happen in her town.
Even the summer after 9/11, Somerset once again gained media attention because nine coal miners were rescued from a nearby mine. Beachy saw a reporter from Fox News at her local diner and begged her mom to take her there.
‘I was a huge news buff as a kid,’ Beachy said. ‘I always knew I wanted to be a reporter.’
She ended up exchanging information with the reporter, and on the first anniversary of 9/11, she received a call from Fox. A news truck picked her up and brought her to the crash site. At age 12, she was interviewing locals about the event. She said that was when she decided to commemorate the crash through film.
Many locals are still haunted by the crash. The documentary introduces the viewer to three witnesses that still live in Somerset today.
Rick, a taxidermist and one of the first responders, now organizes an annual 9/11 motorcycle ride consisting of those personally affected by the attacks. The ride starts in Somerset, continues to Washington, D.C., and ends in New York City.
Terry, who works at an automobile salvage yard, witnessed the plane crashing and vowed never to forget by tattooing his body in remembrance.
The film also showed Father Al, a priest who was excommunicated for founding a church dedicated to Flight 93. As he fights cancer, he continues to hold services in honor of the victims who lost their lives that day.
After the documentary was shown, there was a 15-minute talk in which audience members gave feedback and criticism. Beachy said she plans to continue working on the film this summer in New York City and hopes to have it finished by September.
Marcus Belmore, a senior television, radio and film major, said he enjoyed the film.
‘What I enjoyed the most was putting a face on a part of 9/11 that doesn’t come to the forefront of our mind,’ he said. ‘It was moving.’
seschust@syr.edu