SHANKSVILLE — The U.S. Postal Service will offer two special pictorial cancellations in remembrance of passengers aboard Flight 93 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the heroes of Sept. 11, 2001. 33 passengers and seven crew members died when Flight 93, en route to San Francisco from Newark, NJ, was hijacked by four terrorists and crashed near Shanksville.

The first cancellation will be available on September 10 and September 11 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the grand opening of the Flight 93 National Memorial. The cancellation is sponsored by the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department and will be available to patrons at the shuttle drop off entrance both Saturday and Sunday September 10 and 11. The formal name of the cancellation is the “Heroes of Flight 93 Memorial Dedication Station.”

The second cancellation will be available on September 11 at the Flight 93 Memorial Chapel Station. This cancellation is sponsored by the USPS and will be available on September 11 at the Flight 93 Memorial Chapel from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. A special postal trailer will be on site at 1717 Coleman Station Road in Frieden, PA to provide the cancellation.

As with the previous cancellations, both will be offered after September 11 at the Shanksville Post Office for 30 days following the September 11 observances.

“It is our privilege to offer these special cancellations and our duty to not forget the 40 lives lost on September 11, 2001,” said Shanksville Officer-In-Charge Debrah Anderson. “This is our tribute to honor the acts of heroism achieved aboard Flight 93, and as benefactors, show appreciation for their courage and ultimate sacrifice.”

Pictorial cancellations are offered as a community service by the Postal Service to commemorate local events nationwide. They are prized by collectors, and saved by non-collectors who want keepsakes of these memorable events. The cancellation can be obtained in person by visiting the temporary post office station at the event. The cancellation can also be obtained through the mail, provided the request is postmarked within 30 days of the event.

Customers wishing to obtain either, or both, cancellations, after the event availability, should affix the correct stamps to any envelope or postcard of choice, address the envelope or postcard to one’s self or others insert cardstock of postcard thickness to prevent bending, and tuck in the flap. Place it in a larger envelope and mail it to:

Specify which cancellation(s) requested. After applying the pictorial cancellation, the Postal Service will return the envelope or postcard through the mail. Anyone wanting their item returned under protective cover should include a larger, self-addressed, stamped envelope.

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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. We’re everywhere so you can be anywhere: www.uspseverywhere.com. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $67 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.