Todd Beamer, US, A 9/11 Hero

September 11. Todd Beamer. Todd was an account manager with Oracle Corporation and sold systems applications. He also taught Sunday school, worked in youth ministry, and played on the church softball team. Todd rooted for the , , and .

Todd was an ordinary guy—an ordinary guy who had entrusted his life to Christ. On one of the bleakest days in the history of the United States, Todd demonstrated courage under tremendous pressure. On this date in 2001, Todd Beamer stormed the cockpit of United Airlines Flight 93 to San Francisco.

Act courageously against evil; leave a lasting legacy.

In the wreckage, they found Todd’s watch.

On September 11, Todd made a decision. And his decision saved a lot of people’s lives.

If someone asked, “Do you know where you were on 9/11?” most of us would answer “Yes.” That day the tragedy of terrorism shocked America into stillness.

Todd, his wife Lisa, and their two little boys had returned from a trip to Italy on September 10. And the next morning, Todd went back to the airport to catch United Airlines Flight 93 for a day- business trip to San Francisco. Todd flew often. This was just one more business trip.

But about forty-five minutes into the flight, four men with red bandanas tied around their heads stormed the cockpit and killed the pilot and co-pilot. They announced they had a bomb on board and made the five flight attendants and thirty-three passengers move to the back of the airplane, so they would be out of the way.

In the back, the passengers were able to talk to each other and call their loved ones using their cell phones or back-of-seat telephones in the airplane. Lisa, Todd’s wife, was expecting their third child, and so Todd chose not to call her, knowing it might upset her and affect her pregnancy.

Instead he hit zero on the phone and connected with Lisa Jefferson, a telephone-switchboard operator. Quietly, Todd explained to her what was happening. In that thirteen-minute conversation, he asked Lisa to say the Lord’s prayer with him and recite Psalm 23. Before his life-ending act of courage, Todd found strength in the Word of God. One of those verses reads, “When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?” (Psalm 56: 3-4 NIV).

Todd and other passengers discussed storming the cockpit. From the calls they had made, they knew about the two planes hitting the World Trade Center.

To the other passengers, Todd said, “You ready? Let’s roll.”

That day in 2001, along with other passengers, Todd fought back against the terrorists of United Airlines Flight 93. The band of brave passengers shoved their way into the cockpit and stopped the terrorist’s mission to destroy the Capitol or the in Washington, DC. The plane crashed in a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, killing all the passengers. But hundreds, maybe thousands of lives were saved by a courageous choice.

On that field, Todd Beamer’s watch was found and now sits in the National 9/11 Memorial Museum. It is a two-tone Rolex—broken and charred. The crystal is missing, as well as one of the hands. You can’t tell the time by looking at it, but you do know the day. In a corner of the watch’s face, you see the number 11.

A fitting artifact, since Todd made the most of his time.

What would you do in a situation requiring a courageous choice? Act courageously against evil; leave a lasting legacy.

Daniels, Joe. “Flight 93 Families to Run NYC Marathon to Honor, Remember.” 9/11 Memorial & Museum. Accessed June 25, 2020. https://www.911memorial.org/connect/blog/flight-93-families-run-nyc-marathon-honor- remember. Jefferson, Lisa and Felicia Middlebrooks. Called. Chicago, IL: Northfield Publishing, 2006. Miller, Amy. “Lets Roll Todd Beamer Foundation” Accessed June 25, 2020. http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/911/nation_roll.htm. Story read by: Daniel Carpenter Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter Audio production: Joel Carpenter Editor: Teresa Crumpton, https://authorspark.org/ Project manager: Blake Mattocks © 2020, 365 Christian Men. LLC. All rights reserved.