A prayer before action

A business trip

Todd Beamer left his New Jersey home for a one-day business trip to San Francisco. He was thirty-two, an Oracle account manager, and a husband whose wife was expecting a baby. Family and Christian faith were central commitments in his life.

His flight was United 93. The people boarding it had ordinary destinations and responsibilities. None had chosen to become part of a national emergency.

Sources: National Park Service

News from the ground

Hijackers took over Flight 93 and turned it toward Washington. Passengers and crew used onboard telephones to reach people outside the aircraft. Those calls brought news of the other attacks.

The information changed their understanding of the hijacking. People aboard the plane voted to resist and made a plan together. The National Park Service’s history emphasizes that collective decision.

Sources: National Park Service

The person who stayed

Todd tried to telephone his wife by Airfone. When that call failed, he reached an operator. Lisa Jefferson listened as he described what was happening and passed along messages for his family.

In her later interview with Beliefnet, Lisa described her promise to remain on the line. Her presence took the form available to her: a voice at the other end of a telephone, listening through a crisis she could not stop.

Sources: National Park Service · Beliefnet

Prayer before action

At Todd’s request, they prayed the Lord’s Prayer together. The National Park Service preserves the words Lisa recalled hearing as he turned toward the other passengers: “Are you guys ready? Okay. Let’s roll.”

The prayer and those final words come to us through the operator’s recollection. They offer a glimpse of Todd’s faith during the crisis, while the broader history records a group preparing to act.

Sources: National Park Service

Forty lives to remember

Passengers and crew fought back. The hijackers maneuvered the aircraft violently and ultimately crashed it into a Pennsylvania field at 10:03 a.m. All forty passengers and crew members died.

Flight 93 did not reach the hijackers’ intended target, which investigators concluded was most likely the U.S. Capitol. Its story is one of courage and devastating loss. Todd’s widely remembered words are part of the actions of many people aboard.

Sources: National Park Service

View photograph ↗

An enduring responsibility

Lisa later described a stronger faith, an emotional burden that led her to seek therapy, and a continuing relationship with the Beamer family. She understood her role as a calling to carry their message.

She also insisted that the courage aboard Flight 93 belonged to the whole group. A flight attendant had helped supply information during the call. Remembering Todd faithfully includes remembering the people around him.

This account leaves us with two forms of service: people acting together in danger, and someone staying present when there was no easy comfort to give.

Sources: Beliefnet