"Behind the Scenes of 9-11" – ABC video

(Clips about Shanksville and Val McClatchey @ 35:28)

Google video link

(Pic @ 36:00)

"Photo Gallery" - PittsburghLive.com

On Sept. 11, Val McClatchey instinctively snapped this photograph of smoke rising over her neighbor's barn from the crash of United Flight 93 in Somerset County. The photo is now on sale at a local store for $20, with $18 benefiting the families of the victims. (Keith Hodan/Tribune-Review)

http://livesite.pittsburghlive.com/pages/terrorism/photogallery_yearlater/shanksville/index.php?photo=3

"The day that changed America" - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

(Snippet. Emphasis mine.)

The day that changed America

By Robb Frederick

TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Wednesday, September 11, 2002

~

Val McClatchey heard the 757 roar over Indian Lake, three miles east of where it would crash. She had been watching the "Today" show, with footage from New York, and now the Pentagon.

She looked out the window, above the red barns. She caught a glimpse of it, like light off a watch face. Then nothing, and then a boom that nearly knocked her off the couch.

The lights went out. The phones, too.

She grabbed her camera. She stepped onto the front porch and shot one frame of the smoke cloud, a charcoal puff in a pure blue sky.

That image — "End of Serenity," she called it — caught the essence of Somerset County that day. The barns, the blue sky, the open slope of pasture — it's a postcard, except for that fat, black cloud, swelling like a smoke signal, warning that something horrible has happened.

"I thought it was an accident," McClatchey says, a Time and a Newsweek and a Reader's Digest in the binder on the coffee table, the pages with her photo marked with Post-Its. "I thought it was a small plane. I figured they were just trying to get out of the air."

She didn't walk up that road, toward the hole in the tree line. She could hear the sirens; she knew it was bad. She didn't need to see.

She went into the kitchen and put on barbecue for the rescue crews.

~

The people of Somerset County lost something else, something that cloud crowded out of Val McClatchey's photograph. She realized it that night, in bed, listening to the hum of the emergency generators. The lights up the hill came through the curtains.

"You go along, day to day, and you never think much about your situation in life," says her husband, Jack. "Something like this, it changes your outlook on things. You're waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"This area will never be the same," he says.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_90823.html

Note that the plane Val hears over her area flies almost in the opposite direction as officials said Flight 93 flew in before it crashed:

(Map source: popularmechanics.com)

"In the sky, a heroic struggle aboard hijacked United Flight 93" - U.S. News

In the sky, a heroic struggle aboard hijacked United Flight 93

By Samantha Levine

~

It has been awhile–most agree since the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 (in which settlers rioted against excise taxes)–that the country even knew the town existed. "It used to be, 'Where the heck is Shanksville?'" says Valencia McClatchey, who lives near the crash site and snapped the oft-reproduced photo of a plume of smoke hovering over an old red barn and staining the morning sky. It's not a place most would know about. The town of 245 people sits nearly two hours east of Pittsburgh in the middle of Somerset County. There are two ski resorts and two state prisons in the county, but you don't have to go through Shanksville to reach them. Its relative obscurity allowed residents to burrow deep into their quiet community, and its serenity attracted people like McClatchey and her husband, John.

~

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/9_11/articles/911shanksville.htm

"Lives changed in countless ways" - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Lives changed in countless ways

By Andrew Conte

TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Sunday, September 8, 2002

~

Val McClatchey, 46, took a now-famous picture of the crash's black smoke hanging over a neighbor's red barn. She snapped the picture instinctively but then could not bear to look out her windows again for three days.

She drove out recently to the memorial site in her black Camaro convertible to meet with television reporters from one of the national networks. Her picture sells for $20 at Ida's Store in Shanksville, with $18 going to a fund for the victims' families.

"There are some people who just can't get past it, and they are out here every day," she said, visiting the memorial for just the fourth time. "It can get a little overwhelming."

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_90214.html

Val McClatchey snapped this photograph of smoke rising over her neighbor's barn from the crash of United Flight 93

On Sept. 11, Val McClatchey instinctively snapped this photograph of smoke rising over her neighbor's barn from the crash of United Flight 93 in Somerset County. The photo is now on sale at a local store for $20, with $18 benefiting the families of the victims.

'End of serenity' is copyrighted

Registration Number: VA-1-128-462

Title: End of serenity.

Description: Photo.

Claimant: acValencia M. McClatchey

Created: 2001

Published: 1Oct01

Registered: 29Jan02

http://www.copyright.gov/records/cohm.html

"Photo Benefits Crash Victims" - Penn Lines

Penn Lines - End Of The Line For Trapping?

January 2002 Vol 37 No. 1

Photo Benefits Crash Victims

Electric cooperative consumer Val McClatchey of Indian Lake, Somerset County, is selling 8 x 10 prints of her gripping photograph "End to Serenity" (October 2001 issue of Penn Lines, page 14). The shot — first published in Penn Lines — was taken moments after hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 crashed near her home on September 11. The plane went down after passengers thwarted plans by Muslim terrorists to slam the aircraft into the U.S. Capitol or White House.

Cost for a print is $20, with $18 donated to the Todd Beamer Foundation. The remaining $2 covers shipping and handling. The Todd Beamer Foundation — named for one of the heroic passengers aboard Flight 93 — benefits families of those who perished in the tragedy.

To order, please send a check or money order to: Val McClatchey, 107 Osage Path, Stoystown, PA 15563.

http://www.prea.com/pennlines/PennLines%202002.htm [January - PDF]

Notice that in this article, it tells people to make their check or money order directly out to Val and not to The Todd Beamer Foundation as the Shanksville memorial website that advertises Val’s photo says to do. Also, how many people who have gone to the memorial website wanting to buy of copy of her photo have goofed and wrote their check/money order out to Val and not to the Todd Beamer Foundation as it says to?

Remember that Val said she uses the “honor system” in forwarding the foundation profits from selling her photo and has admitted to keeping some of the profits to fight her lawsuit battle with the AP.

Penn Lines - Can Chestnuts Make A Comeback?

October 2001 Vol 36 No. 10

Utility Unity on Display

http://www.prea.com/pennlines/PennLines%202001.htm [October - PDF]

"Terrorism Hits" - Pennsylvania Township News

Terrorism Hits

Somerset County Township Recalls Fateful Day of Flight 93

The story behind the photo...

Val McClatchey of Stoystown, Somerset County, just happened to be in the right place at the right time and snapped the photo at the top of this page, which she has titled “End of Serenity.” The photo, which has appeared in Newsweek and other publications, shows the ominous cloud of smoke that arose from the crash of United Airlines Flight 93, in which 38 people perished on September 11. McClatchey is selling the photos for $20 each, with the proceeds going to the Todd M. Beamer Foundation, which benefits the children of the crash victims. Beamer is among the passengers who attempted to overcome the plane’s hijackers. To order the photo, send a check or money order, made payable to the Todd M. Beamer Foundation, in care of Val McClatchey, 107 Osage Path, Stoystown, PA 15563.

Pennsylvania Township News—January 2002

http://www.psats.org/sept11 stonycreek jan02.pdf

Mtn. Lakes Realty, LLC

(Update: Val's business website no longer display her photo for sale. Archive of page can be found here.)

This is from Val's business website:

"End of Serenity" copyright

Val McClatchey took this photo from her home just seconds after the crash of Flight 93. Prints are available only at the office or by calling Val at Mtn. Lakes Realty,LLC.

Original URL. Wayback URL.

-----------------------------

Val McClatchey, REALTOR®
Broker/Owner

"End of Serenity" - ShanksvilleMemorial.com

(Update: The shanksvillememorial.com/endofserenity.html site has been taken offline and does not come up anymore using Wayback Machine.)

--------------------------------

(Note: date of post is from first time the URL appears on Wayback Machine.)

End of Serenity

This copyrighted photo was taken by Val McClatchey, who lives close to the crash site. The picture seems to symbolize the transformation of Shanksville from a tiny unknown town to a place in the history books.

To order an 8.5 X 11 print of this photo, send a $20.00 check made payable to the Todd Beamer Foundation to the following address:

Val McClatchey
107 Osage Path
Stoystown, PA 15563

http://www.shanksvillememorial.com/endofserenity.html

Screen shot:

McClatchey's file bankruptcy on their business

Nine days after 9/11, the McClatchey's file bankruptcy on the saw mill business:

"On September 20, 2001, JCM Industries, Inc. filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. On February 12, 2002, the filing was converted to a liquidation proceeding under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. John C. McClatchey, a director and nominee, is President, director and principal shareholder of JCM Industries, Inc." - Edgar-Online.com

Five months later they filed a liquidation proceeding:

"On February 12, 2002, JCM Industries, Inc. filed a liquidation proceeding under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. John C. McClatchey, a director, was Chief Executive Officer, director and principal shareholder of JCM Industries, Inc." - Edgar-Online.com

2002 WARN Notices

January, 2002

JCM Industries
Buckstown Road
Stoystown, PA 15563

COUNTY: Somerset
# AFFECTED: 47
PLANT CLOSING
EFFECTIVE DATE:
PUBLIC NOTICE

- dli.state.pa.us

“Shoot-Down Orders” – ABC News

(Snippet. Emphasis mine.)

Shoot-Down Orders

Another Hijacked 9/11 Plane Threatened D.C.; Officials Saw Few Options

Sept. 15 — Just before 10 a.m. ET on Sept. 11, 2001, jet fighters were swarming around the nation's capital.

~

‘The Ground Just Shook’

On the ground in Shanksville, Pa., Assistant Volunteer Fire Chief Rick King, the proprietor of Ida's Country Store, was talking by phone with his sister Jody about the New York and Washington attacks.

He recalled: "She said to me, 'Rick, I hear a plane,' and I said, 'Yeah,' and she said, 'It's really loud.'"

Just outside Shanksville, Valencia McClatchey was startled by the noise and looked out her window to catch a glimpse of "a reflection of the sun hitting on something."

"I could hear the engines screaming," King said. "Seconds later it hit, and I remember, the ground just shook. Everything underneath my feet just rumbled."

"It almost jolted me to the point of losing my balance," McClatchey said.

She grabbed her camera and snapped a photo of what she saw.

"It was very startling against the clear blue sky to see that, a huge ball of smoke coming up," McClatchey said.

http://abcnews.go.com/onair/DailyNews/sept11_moments_3.html (Expired)

(Archived: Wayback Machine. Reprinted: positiontoknow.com)

Moments after a hijacked jet smashed into a Pennsylvania field on Sept. 11, 2001, local resident Valencia McClatchy snapped this shot from her home. (Valencia McClatchey)

Note that this ABC article dated 09/15/01 shows Val's "End of Serenity" photo in their video clip suggesting the earliest date her photo went public. It also quotes her saying she almost lost her balance after the explosion and just grabbed her camera and snapped her photo, but never mentions her being on the couch as she has claimed in other news articles and that she ran outside on her porch to take her photo. This may be because ABC wanted to keep her part of the story short and didn’t elaborate about all of her details.

Radio Appearances

My radio appearances talking about Flight 93 photo fraud:

12/09/06 - 911 Blog Radio [part A, part B]

10/01/06 - The Worsley Show [mp3]

09/28/06 - Jack Blood [mp3] (starts @ 15:00)

09/15/06 - WING TV [archive]

09/13/06 - The Nixed Report [mp3]

09/08/06 - Robb Revere Show [mp3]

09/05/06 - National Intel Report [archive]

Val's house is 1.6 miles from crater

Val McClatchey’s house is approx. 1.6 miles/8,438ft from the crater (according to Google Earth). Her address, that is listed at the website that sells copies of her photo, is:

107 Osage Path
Stoystown, PA 15563

JCM Industries Inc. receives $375,000 in federal assistance

List of Individual Transactions for FY 2000

Federal Funding
$375,000

Recipient Name
JCM INDUSTRIES, INC.

Major Agency
Small Business Administration

Program
Small Business Loans

Date
2000-02-16

- fedspending.org