Introduction to Todd Beamer

Todd Beamer was a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93, an American flight that was hijacked by terrorists and ultimately crashed on 11th September 2001. As a passenger aboard the aircraft, he displayed remarkable heroism by attempting to thwart the hijackers’ intended target, believed to be the U.S. Capitol.

Beamer was born on 24th November 1968, in Flint, Michigan to a Christian family. He had two sisters. Beamer developed a passion for sports at a young age and even excelled at baseball. He attended Wheaton College in Illinois, where he met his future wife Lisa Brosious. They married in 1994 and later moved to New Jersey where Beamer worked for Oracle Corporation as an account manager.

The Morning of September 11, 2001

Todd Beamer boarded United Airlines Flight 93 from Newark to San Francisco for a business trip on the morning of 11th September 2001. He planned to return home that day to his pregnant wife and two young sons. The flight he was on happened to be one of the four flights that got hijacked by al-Qaeda militants in a premeditated attack on the United States.

The Hijacking of Flight 93

A couple of minutes after takeoff, four hijackers stormed the cockpit and took control of the plane. They changed course and headed east, presumably toward Washington D.C. It didn’t take long for the passengers and crew to find out through phone calls that three other planes had crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Upon discovering that they too were involved in a suicide operation, both passengers and crew members swiftly opted to resist the hijackers. Beamer was also among them. He made a phone call from an airphone to a GTE supervisor named Lisa Jefferson where he informed her about the situation on the plane. He also asked her to tell his wife and children that he loved them.

The Famous Words: “Let’s Roll”

Todd Beamer then informed Lisa Jefferson that he was going to “jump on” the hijackers. His last words to her were “Are you guys ready? Okay. Let’s roll.”

At 9:57 a.m. the passengers and crew broke into the cockpit and fought the hijackers. At 10:03 a.m., the aircraft swiftly descended and crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The brave actions of Beamer and the passengers and crew saved countless lives that day by preventing the plane from reaching its intended target.

Beamer’s Legacy

Beamer’s legacy lives on through his friends and family. His wife Lisa gave birth to their third child, Morgan Kay Beamer, on January 9, 2002. She also wrote a book on her husband’s life and death called “Let’s Roll! Ordinary People, Extraordinary Courage.” She also established the Todd M. Beamer Foundation (later renamed Heroic Choices) to help children who lost their parents in the September 11 attacks.

Beamer was posthumously awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2002 ESPY Awards.