(Please visit San Jose Mercury News for full story)

From the San Jose elementary school where he first dreamed of being a pilot to San Jose State University where he earned his aviation degree, Capt. Jason Dahl was honored Tuesday for being at the helm of the only hijacked plane on Sept. 11, 2001, that didn’t hit its intended target.

Some 650 students sat in folding chairs, listened to speeches and watched a color guard on the same playground where Dahl once played in the 1960s, back when the school south of Tully Road was known as Hillsdale Elementary, before it took his name.

This is where a kindergarten teacher once wrote on Dahl’s report card that “Jason does everything with zest.”

That was the message for the students at Jason M. Dahl Elementary on Tuesday, many from poor immigrant families, to work hard to achieve their goals, like Dahl did.

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