 Todd
Morgan Beamer (November 24, 1968 - September 11, 2001) was a victim of the
September 11, 2001 Attacks. He was a
passenger aboard United Airlines Flight 93, and his words to a phone operator,
Let's roll, became a widespread catch phrase following the attacks.
Beamer, who resided in Cranbury, New Jersey, was an Account Manager for the
Oracle Corporation. He died at age 32 in the
September 11, 2001 Attacks on board United Airlines Flight 93. He is
survived by his wife, Lisa Beamer, two sons, David and Drew and a daughter,
Morgan Kay, who was born on January 9, 2002 - nearly four months after her
father's death.
Todd and other passengers had been in communication with people via in-plane
and cell phones and learned that the World Trade Center had been destroyed
using hijacked airplanes. He had been talking with Lisa D Jefferson, a GTE
Airfone operator located in the GTE service center in Oak Brook, Illinois, for
about 13 minutes (Beamer had tried to call home from an in-plane phone but
reached an operator instead). Beamer and Jefferson jointly recited the Lord's
Prayer.
Though it was a widely-held belief that the passengers crashed the airliner in
an attempt to save the lives of others on the ground, the 9/11 Commission's
findings (based on the black box cockpit recording) were that the passengers
on Flight 93 did not cause the plane to crash intentionally. This was, in
fact, done by the terrorists as the passengers attempted entry into the
cockpit.
Todd Beamer's Phone Call
Todd Beamer made a call and spoke to a GTE supervisor. In that call,
Beamer told Lisa Jefferson, that he and others on
the plane had decided they would not be a part of the hijackers' plans.
Jefferson had informed him about the other hijackings. Beamer made her
promise to call his wife and their two boys, and
let them know he loved them. Beamer's call connected at 9:45 am. Here is
his paraphrased account.
"There are three hijackers, armed with knives. One of the men has what
appears to be a bomb tied to his midsection with a red belt."
"They have moved most of us to the rear and the man with bomb is nearby.
The other two are in the cockpit."
Toward the end of his conversation with Jefferson, Beamer said the plane
appeared to have changed directions a few times. Beamer became anxious.
"Oh! We're going down!".
[A pause for a few seconds, then in a calmer voice.]
"No, we're OK. I think we're turning around."
"Okay, myself and the others have decided to jump on the hijacker wearing
the bomb. I know I'm not going to get out of this."
[Shouts and commotion are heard over the phone and then Beamer asked her
to pray with him. They recited the 23rd Psalm and the Lord's prayer.]
"Promise you will call my family." [The GTE phone supervisor relayed
Todd's actions to his wife as they were happening]
[Beamer drops the phone, leaving the line open. The last thing Jefferson
heard was Beamer saying:]
"God help me. Jesus help me. Are you ready? Let's roll." |
 Todd's
last words were, according to the 9/11 Commission, roll it - apparently referring to a serving-cart being used as a battering ram. Not to be
confused with let's roll, which Todd said during his phone conversation with
operator Lisa D Jefferson. Let's roll became a catchphrase symbolizing
American determination. Notably, it was used by Neil Young in a tribute song
with the catch-phrase as its title; and President George W Bush in his State
of the Union Address called it the new American creed. Florida State
University's football coach, Bobby Bowden, drew both criticism and support for
using the phrase as the team's motto for the 2002 season.
A post office in Cranbury, New Jersey, was named after him. There is also a
high school (Todd Beamer High School) in Federal Way, WA, named after Beamer. Wheaton College also has a building named after him (the Todd M. Beamer
Student Center). Beamer attended Los Gatos High School, Wheaton Academy,
DePaul University, California State University, Fresno and Wheaton College.
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