As the 23rd anniversary of the tragic 9/11 attacks approaches, the powerful last words of a man who bravely attempted to thwart a plane hijacking on that day have resurfaced and been shared widely.
September 11, 2001, marks the deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history, claiming the lives of 2,977 innocent people.
The world watched in shock as 19 terrorists hijacked four planes, including American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, which were tragically flown into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City.
Almost simultaneously, American Airlines Flight 77, initially targeting the White House, was instead crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, United Airlines Flight 93 was headed toward the capital before passengers heroically intervened, causing it to crash in a field in Pennsylvania.
Tragically, there were no survivors from any of the four hijacked flights.
Audio recordings from the flights have since surfaced, offering a chilling glimpse into the harrowing experiences of those onboard the hijacked planes on that fateful day.
One of the recordings captured the voice of Todd Beamer, an account manager for Oracle Corporation from Cranbury, New Jersey.
He was a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93, the plane that ultimately crashed in a field in Stonycreek Township near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
He informed her that a passenger had been killed by a hijacker and was then told by a flight attendant that the pilot and co-pilot had been forced out of the cockpit and were possibly injured.
Jefferson then heard Beamer’s growing panic as the plane suddenly veered in a southeasterly direction. He later informed her that some of the passengers were planning to “jump on” the hijackers.
The supervisor reported that Beamer’s final audible words were: “Are you guys ready? Let’s roll.”
His words became so iconic that they later served as a battle cry for American soldiers fighting Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan in the years that followed.
It was widely believed that the passengers onboard Flight 93 intentionally crashed the airliner to save lives on the ground. However, the 9/11 Commission’s findings, based on the ‘black box’ cockpit recordings, revealed that this was not the case.
The passengers took decisive action, storming the cockpit and engaging the terrorists in a struggle for control of the plane.
Tragically, the plane crashed into a field, resulting in the deaths of everyone onboard, but there were no casualties on the ground.
A post office in Cranbury, New Jersey, was named in honor of Beamer, along with the Todd Beamer High School in Federal Way, Washington. Wheaton College also commemorated him by naming a building the Todd M. Beamer Student Center.
As a national hero, Beamer is frequently recognized for his role in preventing further damage to the US capital, although the collective efforts of everyone on board Flight 93 have been widely praised.
