SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – 20-year-old Deora Bodley was intent on make a difference in this world and by all accounts she did just that on 9/11, says her mother Deborah Borza.
After visiting friends on the East Coast, Deora was heading home to California. She was flying standby on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. But not before Deora and the other passengers heroically battled the hijackers and forced the plane down, saving untold lives.
A junior majoring in French and child psychology at Santa Clara University, Deora grew up in San Diego. Fondly recalling her passion for helping others was close friend and high school classmate Greg Keiling.
20 years later, Keiling is an ambassador for Deora’s memory as he raises money for the Flight 93 memorial and remains in awe of her courage and what he sees as an early victory in the War on Terror.
She’s forgiven those who murdered Deora, but Debbie Borza never stops thinking about what might have been.
Debbie sometimes wonders whether Deora was somehow meant to be on Flight 93. She gave her life fighting for something she had often said would be her legacy.