The eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, crash of United Airlines Flight 93 into a field in Somerset County will be marked tomorrow with a speech by former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell.

Gen. Powell will be joined at the event by former Pennsylvania governor and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, as well as retired Gen. Tommy Franks.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will give opening remarks, and Gordon Felt, the president of the Families of Flight 93, is also expected to speak. Country music star Trace Adkins will sing the national anthem.

The event begins at 9:45 a.m. and the names of the 40 passengers and crew members who were killed will be read at 10:03 a.m.

It will be held adjacent to the temporary memorial in Shanksville that has been visited by more than 1 million people since the crash.

Flight 93 was on its way from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco that morning, when it was hijacked near Cleveland. The plane abruptly changed course, headed for Washington, D.C., where another plane had already crashed into the Pentagon.

The Boeing 757 went down just after 10 a.m. into a reclaimed strip mine.

Construction on a memorial to the victims of the crash will begin soon, with a dedication ceremony slated for the 10th anniversary.

In addition to the memorial service, the Steelers tomorrow will hold the "9/11 We Will Never Forget" Dinner.

Hosted by Art Rooney II, Rocky Bleier, Franco Harris and Jerome Bettis, special guests will include Gen. Franks and Mr. Ridge.

The evening will include a VIP reception, a dinner and a special message from country music star Toby Keith.

Steelers spokesman Dave Lockett said that the team has always felt a connection with the families of Flight 93. "It's important to never forget those heroes who sacrificed their lives to make difference," he said.

There will also be a display of Flight 93 tribute items and design renderings of the permanent national memorial.

Admission prices for the dinner are $193 for a single ticket; $793 for a VIP ticket and $3,930 for a table that seats eight.

In addition, the Pleasant Hills Volunteer Fire Company is holding a memorial service at 7 p.m. tomorrow at Mowry Park.

For more information, go to www.honorflight93.org.