Jeremy Glick Honored - Hereo of Flight 93

 Daily American, September 13, 2008

Jeremy Glick Honored in Shanksville

by Vickie Rock, Staff Writer

Memorial stone marker to be unveiled at Flight 93 crash site

   

Photo Album of 2008 Event & Permanent Memorial

   

Sensei Gary visiting the National Memorial at Flight 93 crash site

Sensei Gary speaking on Jeremy Glick September 11, 2016

Jeremy Glick, one of the heroes of United Flight 93, will be honored by a monument to be placed at the Flight 93 temporary memorial today. The ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. It is open to the public. Gary Goltz, Upland, CA., is a 7th degree black belt and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Judo Association. He didn’t personally know Glick, but is well aware that Glick was the U.S. National Collegiate Judo champion in 1993. Glick, 31, lived in West Milford, NJ.

“I’ve talked to his friends,” Goltz said. “He was the type of judo player who didn’t hesitate. He moved right in with enthusiasm and gusto. While he was given a 1st degree black belt after winning the Collegiate Nationals, we awarded him a 10th degree black belt posthumously (the highest rank). It’s appropriate — that is awarded to a person who exemplifies the principals of judo, which he did.”

Earlier this summer, Goltz was driving to Boston to attend the judo junior nationals. He stopped at the temporary memorial. “I saw the stone markers and I thought there should be one for Jeremy Glick,” he said. “There’s nothing to him as an individual, to recognize him as a judo guy and a Jewish guy. When you think of the main people who fought the terrorists, he’s one of them. We think he did a strangle hold on the guy who was holding them in the back of the plane so the others could rush up to the cockpit.”

Goltz is also a super-fan of the 50's TV smash hit, "Highway Patrol" which starred Broderick Crawford. Crawford, who was born in Philadelphia, won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1949 for his role as the corrupt Governor of Louisiana in "All the Kings Men". He is buried in Johnstown, New York. Goltz drove to the cemetery to pay his respects to Crawford.  There he met Mary Riznyk who runs that cemetery and also works for Cherry Valley Memorials.

When he returned home, he was looking through his photographs of that trip and decided a memorial to Glick should be placed at the Flight 93 memorial. So Goltz contacted Mary Riznyk again and she designed the stone for Glick that includes the emblem of the United States Judo Association and the Star of David in recognition of Glick’s Jewish heritage.

“Barbara Black of the National Park Service put us in touch with Jeremy’s family,” he said. “Lyz (his widow) was 100% supportive. We hope other judo players will come out for this dedication.” The stone memorial was being brought in Friday. Guest speakers will include Jewish Hall of Fame Athlete - Jim Bregman, the first American to win an Olympic Medal for judo at the Tokyo Games in 1964.

  

Glick's parents, wife and daughter with Bregman and Goltz (Emmy Glick Ted Talk 6-17)

  

Jim Bregman talking to the crowd and the entire family with Bregman and Goltz

Jim Bregman, local judo leader Jan Finkbeiner, and Gary Goltz

The Leader-Herald, September 11, 2008

Monument Commissioned for 9/11 Hero

by Richard Nilsen, Staff Writer

Mary "Kitty" Riznyk with the memorial stone for Jeremy Glick

When Mary "Kitty" Riznyk was contacted by Gary Goltz about finding a particular grave site at Ferndale Cemetery, she didn't realize it would lead her to being part of the National Memorial to Flight 93 in Somerset County, PA. "[Goltz] is a huge fan of actor Broderick Crawford, who is buried at Ferndale, where I am a volunteer," Riznyk said. "He's also the chief operating officer of the U.S. Judo Association." Besides being a volunteer with Ferndale, Riznyk also is general manager for Cherry Valley Memorials' office in Gloversville.

Goltz contacted Riznyk to see if a memorial could be designed for United Airlines Flight 93 passenger and judo black belt holder Jeremy Glick. Glick was among the passengers who tried to stop terrorists who hijacked the plane on Sept. 11, 2001. The plane crashed in a wooded area in Pennsylvania, killing all aboard.

Riznyk said Goltz appreciated her help in finding the grave of Crawford. That led to him contacting her for a memorial to Glick.

Cherry Valley made the memorial. Its inscription says, "The United States Judo Association promoted Jeremy Glick to the highest rank of black belt for living the principle of judo mutual welfare and benefit sacrificing his life for our country September 11, 2001."

The design, showing the United States Judo Association symbol, a star of David and a black belt, was designed by Riznyk and Cherry Valley Memorials owner John R. Viscosi at the company's office in Gloversville and fabricated at the company's plant in Cherry Valley.

Riznyk will be going to a memorial site in Pennsylvania Friday with the monument and have dinner with Glick's widow, Lyzbeth Glick Best, now remarried. "It's a great honor," Riznyk said.

Riznyk said the installation of the Glick memorial will be Saturday, separate from a service that took place today at 9:30 a.m. Today's service was to include tolling bells and a reading of the names of the "40 Heroes" of the flight and laying of wreaths. Viscosi said he's "honored such an important stone has been commissioned by a local company. It's quite a thrill to be a part of this."

According to the National Parks Web site, Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, PA, and "has been called the first victory in the war on terrorism in recognition of the extraordinary bravery and heroism shown by the 40 passengers and crew members in preventing the hijacked plane from reaching the nation's capital." Authorities believe the terrorists planned to crash the plane in Washington.

Best wrote a book, Your Fathers Voice, so her daughter, Emerson, now 7, would know the full story of her father.

Nagayasu Ogasawara, Joan & Lloyd Glick - June 2019

Jeremy Glick's Final Call, The Sun - May 13, 2019

Jeremy Glick Inducted into Jewish Hall of Fame June 2, 2019

Rochester Business Journal Editorial on Jeremy Glick June 3, 2019

Lyz Best's Reflections from ACCESS - September 10, 2021

Sensei Gary's Black Belt Judo Blog - September 10, 2021

Read More About Jeremy Glick

Passing of Sensei Nagayasu Ogasawara June 18, 2023

I shared this news with Jeremy Glick's widow and got this response..."Thank you for sharing this. Our family had heard a life well lived and certainly a man who shaped so many lives including Jeremy's starting as a young boy. Hope all is well, Lyz"

Goltz Judo Club's Website