Those were Todd Beamer’s last words to the outside world before he, Mark Bingham, Tom Burnett, Jeremy Glick, and other passengers successfully sacrificed Flight 93, on September 11 twenty years ago. There are a few flashbulb images that will never leave me from that day. The smoking World Trade Center tower is the one we all remember. It was around 6:30 am when I rolled into my room at the now Bridger Inn in downtown Vegas after scouting and playing all night. I still didn’t feel like sleeping, so I turned on the TV and watched events unfold live. The initial reports were that a small plane had hit the tower, and we mostly thought it wasn’t a big deal, other than the fire. And the 1993 bombing hadn’t moved the needle for most of the nation, or the world. When the second plane hit on live TV, and then the towers fell, we all collectively thought, “Whoa, who knew THAT could happen [architecturally speaking]!?!” When flights everywhere got grounded, I got stuck in Vegas. This was real, and had already affected all of us.
Another image became the face of the tragedy: Time magazine ran a photo of a person swan-diving from the tower to escape the flames. There was even a photo of a couple who had done it together. I find that I can’t NOT think about those images when 9/11 comes up.
Other images pop in my head, too, from my hometown. In the days after the towers fell, it was difficult to account for who had actually been killed, and my hometown is a commuter suburb of NYC. People park their cars at our little train station, and then ride the train into The City. While I was in Vegas, friends back home said that on the night of 9/11, there were a few cars in the parking lot at the train station whose owners never came back. I imagine those lonely cars in the emptied lot as vividly as if I had been there to see it.
And I also remember the view from the top of the cemetery wall on the highest hill in my town. Once upon a time I had stood on the top of that stone wall, and verified what I had heard—that on a clear sunny day, you could see the tops of the Twin Towers. And I did.
Sadly, the true heroism in NYC that day has been co-opted by politicians (Giuliani!), police and fire unions, Big Brother, “Patriot” Actors, and conspiracy theorists in a way that has done more damage to our nation than the terrorist act itself ever did. Maybe because of my heightened cynicism, the most powerful memories of that day are not the visual ones from the grand skyline of NYC, but the audio from Flight 93 that went down in an unremarkable field in Pennsylvania. By making the hard choice—which I’m sure those heroes would describe as a simple thing—they did what the politicians might have been unable to do: shoot down the plane. Even if the political courage to shoot down the plane had been summoned, the likely result would have been bickering, blame, and political reward-seeking.
Nathan Hale became legendary not for his failed spy mission, but his supposed last words on 9/22 (1776) in New York City, variously described as:
“I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”
[If he had ten thousand lives, he would lay them all down, if called to it, in defence of his injured, bleeding Country.]
“I am so satisfied with the cause in which I have engaged, that my only regret is, that I have not more lives than one to offer in its service.”
[Colour me cynical, but I have a hard time believing that kind of poised eloquence on the gallows, especially when described second- and third-hand years later, with such divergent transcriptions.] Hale’s heroism and oratory have put him in the pantheon of patriots, remembered centuries later.
But Hale’s got nothing on Todd Beamer, whose last words trump them all. Those words—”Are you guys ready? Okay. Let’s roll.”—are eloquent, succinct, powerful, epic, real. Hemingway, the acclaimed master of dialog, could not pen it any better. The hero’s last words exhibit Teamwork. Decisiveness. Commitment. Confidence. Action. And, in the context in which they were spoken: Wisdom. Sacrifice. Love.
The Beamer Bros. were civilians. Their Plan A was to do what must be done—sacrifice the plane! I hope that the heroes of Flight 93 are remembered for centuries, and that “Let’s Roll!” becomes a rallying cry for the ages.
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I can’t help but think of what we’ve lost in the 20 years since. Trillions of dollars and thousands of lives in wars that we now know accomplished virtually nothing.
But the most disturbing of all is that I fear our nation will never again have the shared experience and empathy that we all felt in the days after 9/11.
If flight 93 were to happen today, a quarter of the people on the plane would volunteer to help the terrorists fly it into the capital. Sad times.
I remember a bit since I live in midtown Manhattan, watched massive crowds walking uptown in the middle of the street, and smelled the stink for a year. My company had two floors in the WTC and my GF used to eat every weekday in the basement of WTC. She knew folks that died. The restaurants were full that night and the mood actually wasn’t that bad. Sick of the stuff on TV though. This was 20 years ago and over a thousand Americans a day are dying of Covid, mostly self-inflicted these days. I’m doing the Sunday crossword and watching animals on BBC while she reads a book on John Adams. Absolutely agree with you about Giuliani and others. He told the crews cleaning up the mess to not bother wearing masks, despite their exposure to massive amounts of concrete dust, glass fibers, lead, mercury, dioxins, asbestos, and cadmium. Even on a normal day, garbage collection is the fifth most dangerous job. I’d call them heroes as well.
I agree.
I suspect, and hope that I am wrong, but I feel that with the influx of unvetted refugees from Afghanistan allowed here in the US that another 9/11 type of incident may be on the horizon.
FBI director Wray stated that white supremacists comprise the biggest chunk of our domestic terrorism portfolio overall and have been responsible for the most lethal attacks over the last decade.
There was a spin off of the X-Files called The Lone Gunmen. The premiere episode aired a few months before 9/11. The plot? Terrorists hijacked a plane an attempted to crash it into the WTC.
That incident happened 9/9/21 with a speech by Joe 6-pack. Noting the analytics on the WH “Themtube” page it seems like people are not happy. I’m sure the numbers have been given a Swedish massage and don’t reflect the “true count.”
Umm, Wray is a Republican, appointed by Bush as an asst attorney general, and Trump as FBI director.
An excellent, excellent article. Brought a tear to my eye.
I remember that day like it was yesterday.
Seems like there’s a strange political agenda in many of these responses. That bugs me. I think the spirit of James’ blog was to shine a light on the selflessness and courage of Beamer et al, but also on the logic of what they did. They were gonna die in almost any scenario that could have unfolded, so they decided, on the spot, to maximize their unique opportunity to make the best move for all involved (not just those on the plane). I get chills when I hear the “Let’s roll” quote. These guys were true badasses. But they were also smart and knew that doing nothing was the worst possible move. So they did SOMETHING. Yes, heroes. Awesome post.
Truish. But, James rightly brought up cynicism and political co-option. I think he was right to do so. And examination of an event is of more value than prayers and odes. Indeed, failure can be of great value as we learn more from failure than success if we take the time and clear thinking to observe. That’s true if you are in geopolitics, the US Open, or AP.
Thanks for sharing your memories of 911 James. I hate to think and refuse to believe that 25 percent would now help the terrorist. I believe most of us would follow the brave example of Team Beamer.
I also don’t think the influx of middle easterners will harm this country which has been built by immigrants (though sadly on the backs of others). We were boosted by Germans who came here to escape the Nazis. We did not fall to the Nazis because of them!
As our new neighbors settle into our crazy “safer” world, we need to reach out and help them feel welcomed. Otherwise, they just might migrate to the wrong crowds. Some will become government workers and can help us learn how to better protect ourselves from the evil people who claim to be Muslims but are simply slime bag terrorists. They can also help us strengthen relationships in the Middle East, possibly, hopefully.
On an even brighter side, they will bring some great recipes! They are super family oriented. They will have customs and insights of which we are ignorant.
Afghans didn’t blow up the World Trade Centers. Arabs made up 15 of 19 and 2 from United Emirates. Not a single Afghan. Yes, their country was a safe harbor but those people lined up to get a plane ride out we’re likely not happy to be that safe harbor. They were helpless against it!
I wish you all well. I hope to meet one or two of you next month if time permits on my first visit to Las Vegas in 20 years. Now, go hit royal flushes everybody! 🙂
Playing in casinos around Vegas and US, we meet dealers from many nations who came here seeking a better situation—Afghanis, Somalians, Cambodians, etc. They don’t like getting yelled at by drunk losers. They like getting big tips when people win. They go drinking with their friends after work. They go home to their kids. Hmmm, sounds just like those of us who grew up here! No one vilifies someone who moves from boring Iowa to sunny San Diego. [Hey, I love Iowa!]
I think very few of us would be able to summon the courage of the Beamer Bros., or would be outvoted by those who would fearfully, understandably, sit inactive and just hope things will work out. It is very hard to convince people that a bad outcome really is inevitable or likely. And look how many attacks on subways and such are simply watched by bystanders, many of whom legitimately fear getting hurt themselves. Now imagine attacking armed terrorists who have already shown their willingness to kill passengers! I wonder if any conversations happened among the passengers of the second plane that hit WTC. I really can’t imagine the terror of it. We use the word “terrorist” so often that we forget what “terror” really means. Terror. If I dwell on Flight 93 more than a couple minutes, I literally cry every time.
If there’s an afterlife, and if we could one day meet up with the Beamer Bros., I wouldn’t bring them the message about how much their families miss them and love them. They know that. I would want them to KNOW that they played it right, and I hope that in their final moments they did realize that. They played it masterfully. Let’s roll.
You may be correct about people sitting back and hoping for a good outcome. But these passengers had communication to the outside. They knew there was not going to be a positive outcome if they sat back. They knew people on the ground were going to die as well. I’m a small dude with no special skills but if armed with that type of information, there is no way I’m sitting on my ass and I don’t think it would be difficult to muster help.
It’s also been long known that domestic terrorism is our biggest KNOWN threat. We don’t know if some bad actors will be sneaking through the vetting process of our new neighbors. After my post yesterday, I made a call to put my actions where my finger tips are. I called an outreach group that will be working with these folk.
I encourage you all to read Outcasts United. It’s a simple read and you can skim the soccer scenes if you don’t like soccer, although you may find them a bit exciting.
The writer from the NYT did a nice job. The coach, Mufleh I believe, is an immigrant-turne-US Citizen and has possibly done more for her community than all of us in this thread combined have done for ours! What a super human being. The players have gone on to college and US Citizenship carrying a ton of baggage but the positive influence of a fellow immigrant.
https://www.amazon.com/Outcasts-United-Refugee-Soccer-Changed/dp/0385741952/ref=asc_df_0385741952?tag=bngsmtphsnus-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80539344142759&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=m&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584138871509304&psc=1
[Snapper: “You may be correct about people sitting back and hoping for a good outcome. But these passengers had communication to the outside. They knew there was not going to be a positive outcome if they sat back. They knew people on the ground were going to die as well.”] I haven’t read all the docs, but did people on the second WTC plane have outside info? You use the term “know” too loosely! The fearful/hopeful will easily rationalize other outcomes: maybe the US military will come to our rescue, maybe the plane will crash into a building but not kill anyone on the ground, maybe the plane will crash but most of us will survive anyway because we’ll be near hospitals, maybe the hijackers will chicken out, maybe we should wait and a better alternative will present itself, etc. Some would use your optimistic logic to question why nothing is being done about global warming, because to many people, its negative consequences seem inevitable and devastating. Or in the blackjack world, how often we tell a rookie, “If you do X, you WILL have negative outcome Y.” And then they go ahead and do X anyway. They simply refuse to think it through, or think this time will be different, or they intentionally do X in the hope that they can say “I told you so” later. Sometimes, the greatest hurdle is that people simply are not logical, especially in a moment of terror. I wonder if their vote was unanimous. That is why Beamer Bros. decision is so impressive to me, and their leadership to get a big enough group to join the mission is simply awesome. I’ll read Outcasts United. I’m a soccer fan, so I won’t need to skip any of that. It angers me that in much of the Middle East, girls aren’t given the opportunity to play.
For the uninformed cell phones do not work at 30 K feet. Did you do any basic research and see how big the impact crater was. Where is luggage and body parts. In fact 3 crashes and no luggage or body parts found at any of them.
Have you watched 911 a New Pearl Harbir. Did you watch Follow the Money. Did you watch Wallstreet. Then you should know what stock watch is. Did you watch documentary Architects and Engineers. ? Do 3000 opinions make any difference. Did you watch video on Bldg 17. Have your even heard of bldg 17? Find video on utube with bldg 17 in search. Try to find journalist video of the bldg before it was implored. When the fireman try’s to pash back on the reporter he says- you need to get back we are going to pull !!! It. Pull it means what? Implosion. Wonder why videos have no audio on collapse of twin towers. They may still be there. They know that as usual Americans will be told what to believe. Watch utube if you can take time away from baseball and football.
GTE Airfones were common then and used on that plane. And I know the buildings are gone. The lasers replacing them were clearly visible three days ago from my living room. And don’t you mean 7 WTC? Oh, and yeah I did watch WallStreet. I knew the guy who played the SEC person. Never heard of any org called stock watch outside of the movie.
Did I accidentally log into a conspiracy site?
James, I certainly don’t mean to diminish the heroic actions of Beamer and the rest. I see now that my remarks could come off that way. In stead, I am trying to counter the idea that 25% of passengers would help terrorists or that some people on almost any flight on a given day wouldn’t step up. Maybe I’d freeze or chicken out. I hope to never find out. Thanks for your insights.
Quite a fine piece penned by you, James.
[Snapper: “James, I certainly don’t mean to diminish the heroic actions of Beamer and the rest.”] No, I didn’t read your comment that way at all. I’m just saying that whatever line you set for the % of people who would step up to be heroes in the moment, I’m taking the UNDER. But I might have a negative bias on the quality of humanity due to the excessive hours I’ve spent in casinos after 2 a.m. on a Tuesday night/Wednesday morning!
Thank you for the comment, “Jerry”; I have edited my original post accordingly!
LOL.
” But I might have a negative bias on the quality of humanity due to the excessive hours I’ve spent in casinos after 2 a.m. on a Tuesday night/Wednesday morning!”
Mr. Grosjean,
Great post. I’m with you on guessing that attacking the cockpit is a no brainer that most people wouldn’t do. Trying to comprehend what is happening, the fear, the hope that somehow you won’t die, the confusion and chaos of what is going on around you. I think it would be incredibly difficult for most people to do what Beamer & Co. did.
And it’s not even the quality of the human population in general. Just because you are not a hero doesn’t mean you are bad person. It just means you aren’t a hero. How many of us would run into a burning house to rescue someone? How many of us would last 12 minutes in an actual combat situation? How many of us would even get through boot camp?
The group that rushed the cockpit are absolutely heroes. God Bless them and their families. There are many occupations I know I could not do. Fireman, Policeman, DEA, FBI, CIA. It doesn’t mean I’m a bad person. It just means there are braver people than I in the world. Many, many, many braver people. And I thank the Good Lord for those people in our lives.
[Hey, I love Iowa!]
Why?
If this is a casino reference, you’re forgiven.
@ Jimmy Jazz. There are those that thrive when there is mass confusion and chaos all around. Trust in alphabet characters will only leave one in dismay. Look at who is to your left and your right and you will find Nirvana.
Blitzkreig,
What the heck are you talking about?
James and Jimmy;
I happened to watch part of 60 Minutes last night. They discussed the brain and heroism. You two are correct, but not completely, when it comes to the number of people who would act heroically as did Beamer.
While it seems that “intuition” more-so than reasoning is at play for the non-actors. The non-actors may very well reason that somehow, we’ll be okay, but in reality, they may not have time to think a situation through. They simply don’t act while the hero does go into action. The hero goes into action in a fraction of a second. They don’t reason per se; this is why I say it’s intuitive, but it’s actually brain structure. I guess there’s evolution at work.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/carnegie-heroes-60-minutes-2021-11-04/
https://www.carnegiehero.org/
p.s. James, did you read Outcasts United yet? It’s a quick read.