President Donald J. Trump delivers remarks at the 19th anniversary of the Flight 93 National Memorial Observance Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pa. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)
“Are you guys ready? Let’s roll!” was an expression Todd Beamer used whenever his wife and two young sons were leaving their home for a family outing, reports James Freeman in the WSJ.
In 2001, Joann Loviglio (Associated Press) described the final moments of Flight 93:
It was also the expression the 32-year-old businessman and Sunday school teacher used before he and other passengers apparently took action against hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 93, his wife was told by an operator who talked to Beamer just before the plane crashed in a western Pennsylvania field Tuesday…
Todd Beamer placed a call on one of the Boeing 757’s on-board telephones and spoke for 13 minutes with GTE operator Lisa D. Jefferson, Beamer’s wife said. He provided detailed information about the hijacking and – after the operator told him about the morning’s World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks – said he and others on the plane were planning to act against the terrorists aboard, Lisa Beamer said…
Before the call ended and with yelling heard in the background, Todd Beamer asked the operator to pray with him… Several other passengers made phone calls from the jet before it crashed southeast of Pittsburgh. Jeremy Glick, 31; Mark Bingham, 31; and Thomas Burnett Jr. 38, all called loved ones. Glick and Burnett said they were going to do something…
After the prayer was finished and the promise was made to call his wife, Todd Beamer dropped the phone, leaving the line open. It was then that the operator heard Beamer’s words: “Let’s roll.”
