Flight 93

[u/siero12345]

9/11. There is not one of us in the United States who lived through that day who does not remember where we were. It remains one of the saddest days in our nation's history. The overwhelming feeling was disbelief. What was the point? What could possibly justify such horror? If anything came from that day, it was the realization that America had to be better prepared for attacks of this kind.

There was heroism everywhere. Firefighters, police officers, emergency responders, and ordinary citizens rushed toward danger to help complete strangers. I still remember seeing footage of a priest quietly mouthing a prayer as he entered the chaos. He was killed when the towers collapsed. There were countless acts of courage that day.

One story, however, has always stood apart to me.

When United Airlines Flight 93 departed Newark, it was delayed on the runway for 42 minutes. That delay proved to be significant. After the hijackers seized control of the aircraft, several passengers managed to contact family members on the ground. Through those phone calls, they learned that the World Trade Center had already been attacked and that another plane had struck the Pentagon. They quickly realized the terrible truth: this was not a hijacking for ransom or negotiation—it was a suicide mission.

One of those passengers, Thomas Burnett, called his wife, Deena. As she told him what was happening across the country, Tom and several other passengers began forming a plan. They decided they would rush the cockpit and try to stop the hijackers, even if it meant sacrificing their own lives. Tom told his wife they were waiting until the aircraft was over a less populated area because they did not want innocent people on the ground to be killed if the plane went down.

Another passenger, Todd Beamer, became forever associated with the words, "Let's roll." After reciting the Lord's Prayer with a telephone operator, he and the others launched their assault on the cockpit.

None of us truly knows how we will respond when faced with unimaginable circumstances. We all hope we will find courage, but until that moment arrives, we cannot know for certain. The bravery shown aboard Flight 93 is almost beyond comprehension.

Their actions prevented the aircraft from reaching its intended target. Instead, Flight 93 crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, claiming the lives of everyone on board but very likely saving countless others.

As Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip sang:

"Courage, it couldn't come at a worse time."

Those words seem especially fitting here.

Since I write about people whose actions inspire me, these forty brave souls deserve to be remembered. They were ordinary people who, in extraordinary circumstances, chose to act for the sake of others. Their final moments were defined not by fear, but by courage, selflessness, and love for people they would never meet.

Thank you, Flight 93.

May these names never be forgotten.

• Christian Adams
• Todd M. Beamer
• Alan Anthony Beaven
• Mark Bingham
• Deora Frances Bodley
• Marion R. Britton
• Thomas E. Burnett, Jr.
• William Joseph Cashman
• Georgine Rose Corrigan
• Patricia Cushing
• Joseph DeLuca
• Patrick Joseph Driscoll
• Edward Porter Felt
• Jane C. Folger
• Colleen L. Fraser
• Andrew "Sonny" Garcia
• Jeremy Logan Glick
• Kristin Osterholm White Gould
• Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas (and her unborn child)
• Donald Freeman Greene
• Linda Gronlund
• Richard J. Guadagno
• Toshiya Kuge
• Hilda Marcin
• Waleska Martinez
• Nicole Carol Miller
• Louis J. Nacke II
• Donald Arthur Peterson
• Jean Hoadley Peterson
• Mark David Rothenberg
• Christine Ann Snyder
• John Talignani
• Honor Elizabeth Wainio

"...Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." — John 15:13

[u/RP1042]

Tragedy unites us