M1: Heroes In The Rows Around Us
We start My Good Three off with a story about people who risked their lives to keep others safe. This is the story about the sacrifice that the passengers of UA Flight 93 made on September 11th, 2001.
It centers on Todd Beamer, and the call he made to the Airphone operator just before he and the other passengers stormed the cockpit and prevented the airplane, which had been taken over by hijackers, from crashing into another Washington D.C. building.
There are many things to be thankful for, but on this anniversary of September 11th, my 11-year-old son and I talked about the incredible sacrifice these passengers made to protect our way of life.
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M1: The Heroes In The Rows Around Us
THIS IS A STORY ABOUT LOVING YOUR COUNTRY AND LAYING IT ALL ON THE LINE TO PROTECT THE THINGS YOU BELIEVE IN.
Episode
AROUND TWO WEEKS AGO, ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11, I WAS SITTING IN MY LIVING ROOM WITH MY 11-YEAR-OLD…AND IT HAD FINALLY COME TIME TO TALK ABOUT THE DETAILS OF WHAT HAD HAPPENED ON SEPTEMBER 11TH, 2001. UP UNTIL THIS POINT, WE HADN’T TALKED MUCH ABOUT 9/11, BUT AT SCHOOL THAT DAY, HE HAD HEARD MORE…AND HE HAD SOME QUESTIONS …. SO…WE WENT THROUGH IT IN MORE DETAIL.
WE WATCHED VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE….THE PLANES MAKING IMPACT…FIRST RESPONDERS IN ACTION…PEOPLE COVERED IN DEBRIS, NAVIGATING MANHATTAN AFTER THE BUILDINGS COLLAPSED….WE LOOKED AT FOOTAGE OF THE REACTION BY THEN-PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH AS HE SAT IN FRONT OF A ROOMFUL OF SCHOOLCHILDREN AND RECEIVED THE NEWS…WE SAW PICTURES OF THE CHAOS AT THE PENTAGON AND FOUND EXAMPLES OF SOLIDARITY ACROSS THE COUNTRY IN THE WAKE OF THE TRAGEDY.
HE CONTEMPLATED THE BREADTH OF WHAT HAD JUST SEEN…AND DIDN’T SAY MUCH.
I THOUGHT HE’D WANT TO GET INTO MORE DETAILS…BUT INSTEAD, HE FOCUSED ON SOMETHING THE CAMERAS DIDN’T CATCH. HE WANTED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE FOURTH PLANE AND WHY IT HAD CRASHED IN A FIELD NEAR SHANKSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, AND NOT INTO ANOTHER IMPORTANT BUILDING.
HE WAS OLD ENOUGH FOR THE DETAILS, SO I TOLD HIM THE STORY:
THERE WERE A LOT OF HEROES ON THAT DAY IN NEW YORK AND WASHINGTON D.C. – TO INCLUDE WELLES CROWTHER, THE 24-YEAR-OLD EQUITIES TRADER WEARING HIS TRUSTY RED BANDANA TO COVER HIS MOUTH FROM THE SMOKE. WELLES SAVED MANY LIVES BY TAKING CHARGE, MOTIVATING PEOPLE TO LOOK AFTER ONE ANOTHER, THEN LEADING PEOPLE TO THE SOUTH TOWER STAIRWELL, CARRYING OTHERS, AND RETURNING INTO THE BURNING SECTION OF THE TOWER OVER AND OVER UNTIL ITS COLLAPSE…THERE WAS ALSO RICHARD RESCORLA….THE MORGAN STANLEY VICE PRESIDENT OF SECURITY WHOSE CALMING VOICE SANG “GOD BLESS AMERICA” OVER A BULLHORN AS HE LED PEOPLE TO SAFETY…HE WAS LAST SEEN CLIMBING THE STAIRS TO MAKE ONE LAST SWEEP FOR ANY REMAINING MORGAN STANLEY EMPLOYEES.
AND THESE ARE JUST TWO EXAMPLES FROM NEW YORK…
WHEN IT COMES TO FLIGHT 93, IT ALL STARTS WITH TODD BEAMER, A 32-YEAR-OLD SALESMAN, HUSBAND AND FATHER FROM NEW JERSEY, AND HIS PHONE CALL FROM AN AIRLINE PHONE THAT CONNECTED WITH AN AIRPHONE OPERATOR. HE IMMEDIATELY TOLD HER WHAT WAS GOING ON…HOW THE FLIGHT HAD BEEN HIJACKED, THE CREW HAD BEEN INJURED, ONE PASSENGER KILLED, AND SEVERAL HIJACKERS WITH BOX CUTTERS WERE LOCKED IN THE COCKPIT AND ANOTHER WAS IN THE BACK OF PLANE WITH A BOMB STRAPPED TO HIS WAIST. HE TOLD HER THAT THE HIJACKERS HAD JUST TURNED THE PLANE TO THE EAST TOWARD WASHINGTON, D.C.
SEVERAL OTHER PASSENGERS HAD JUST MADE PHONE CALLS TO THEIR FAMIES…SO BY THAT TIME, THE PASSENGERS KNEW THAT TWO PLANES HAD ALREADY CRASHED INTO THE WORLD TRADE CENTER BUILDINGS, AND ONE INTO THE PENTAGON.
A SMALL GROUP, INCLUDING BEAMER, MARK BINGHAM, TOM BURNETT, AND JEREMY GLICK, AS WELL OTHER PASSENGERS AND SEVERAL FLIGHT ATTENDANTS, DECIDED THEY WEREN’T GOING TO JUST SIT THERE AND HAVE THE PLANE THEY WERE ON CRASH INTO ANOTHER BUILDING IN D.C.…SO THEY HUDDLED TOGETHER AND VOTED ON A PLAN TO CONFRONT THE HIJACKERS.
COMPLETE STRANGERS, OF DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS, RELIGIONS, RACES, AND POLITICAL BELIEFS…WHO THIRTY MINUTES EARLIER WERE BUCKLING INTO THEIR SEATS PREPARING TO READ THEIR BOOKS OR WORK ON THEIR LAPTOPS…. WERE SUDDENLY FACE-TO-FACE UNDER DIRE CIRCUMSTANCES - IN A FIGHT FOR THEIR LIVES.
FOR TODD BEAMER, IT WAS A LIFE WITH A WIFE, TWO YOUNG CHILDREN, AND A THIRD ON THE WAY. THEY ALL HAD FAMILIES.
SOME PEOPLE MIGHT FREEZE IN FEAR, SIT BACK DOWN, CLOSE THEIR EYES, AND PRAY THAT IT ALL WORKED OUT. THESE WEREN’T THOSE KIND OF PEOPLE.
A PLAN WAS SET…AND AFTER SHARING A MESSAGE TO HIS FAMILY WITH THE AIRPHONE OPERATOR AND RECITING A QUICK PRAYER, TODD BEAMER… IN TWO WORDS…SET THE GROUP’S PLAN INTO ACTION…”LET’S ROLL.”
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT IS HARD TO SAY EXACTLY, BUT THE FLIGHT DATA RECORDER CAUGHT ENOUGH TO CONCLUDE THAT THE GROUP STORMED THE COCKPIT AND BATTLED WITH THE HIJACKERS FOR CONTROL OF THE PLANE, AND IN THAT BATTLE, THE BOEING 757 ENDED UP IN A DESCENT THAT WAS UNRECOVERABLE. FLIGHT 93 TRAGICALLY CRASHED, UPSIDE DOWN IN A STONYCREEK TOWNSHIP, PENNSYLVANIA FIELD, KILLING 33 PASSENGERS, 7 CREW MEMBERS, AND 4 HIJACKERS.
AS I SAT ON OUR LIVING ROOM COUCH WITH MY 11-YEAR-OLD SON, IT FELL SILENT AS HE CONTEMPLATED THE DECISIONS THAT WERE MADE, THE ACTIONS THAT WERE TAKEN, AND THE RESULTING LOSS OF LIFE. HE FINALLY LOOKED AT ME AND SAID “SO…THEY DID IT KNOWING THEY MIGHT DIE…BUT THEY TOOK THE RISK BECAUSE THEY KNEW THEY WOULD DIE IF THEY DIDN’T.” AND I SAID, “YES, ESSENTIALLY…THEY HAD TO MAKE A TOUGH DECISION…BUT WITH THE INFORMATION THEY HAD AND THE TIMELINE THEY WERE DEALING WITH, IT WAS THE ONLY DECISION.”
HE REPLIED…“THEY’RE HEROES.” AND I REPLIED “YES, THEY’RE HEROES, AND AS AMERICANS, WE SHOULD ALL BE THANKFUL.”
WITH OUR BUSY LIVES IT’S EASY TO LET SEPTEMBER 11TH COME AND GO, BUT ON THIS SEPTEMBER 11TH, I’M GLAD THINGS SLOWED DOWN FOR A MINUTE SO I COULD BE REMINDED HOW LUCKY WE ARE TO LIVE IN A COUNTRY WITH PEOPLE LIKE THE HEROES OF UNITED AIRLINES FLIGHT 93.