{"id":2027709,"date":"2023-09-11T08:03:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T12:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-todd-beamers-dad-on-his-sons-iconic-words-lets-roll-and-the-9-11-legacy\/"},"modified":"2023-09-11T08:06:35","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T12:06:35","slug":"exclusive-todd-beamers-dad-on-his-sons-iconic-words-lets-roll-and-the-9-11-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-todd-beamers-dad-on-his-sons-iconic-words-lets-roll-and-the-9-11-legacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Todd Beamer&#8217;s father reflects on his son&#8217;s powerful words &#8216;Let&#8217;s Roll&#8217; and the lasting impact of 9\/11."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fexclusive-todd-beamers-dad-on-his-sons-iconic-words-lets-roll-and-the-9-11-legacy%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2027709&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div data-post-content=\"true\" class=\"post_content\" id=\"post_content\">\n<p>Seeing a\u2064 neighbor play wiffle \u200bball with his two small sons recently brought a smile \u2062to David Beamer\u2019s face as he recalled times\u2064 with his own son, Todd Beamer, who died\u2063 on Sept. 11, 2001, when United\u200b Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a Pennsylvania field.<\/p>\n<p>Ordinary fathers and sons going\u2064 off to a little <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-los-angeles-democratic-mayor-eric-garcetti-booed-at-dodgers-home-opener\/\" title=\"WATCH: Los Angeles Democratic Mayor Eric Garcetti Booed At Dodgers Home Opener\">league baseball game<\/a> or practicing pitching and batting are sights that fill Mr. David Beamer, 81, with cherished\u200c but bittersweet memories.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor years, that was really, really tough for me to see,\u201d Mr.\u2063 Beamer\u200d told The Epoch Times. \u201cI lament the fact that he wasn&#8217;t around for that,\u201d he said, although \u2064in the summer of 2001,\u2064 when the greater Beamer family gathered \u200cfor a North Carolina lake retreat, he recalls seeing\u2063 his son teach his 3-year-old \u2064grandson how to throw.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cI remember Todd teaching\u200c him \u200dhow to step\u200b and throw. \u2018This is how you throw a baseball. You step, and throw.\u2019\u200b We have so many great memories.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>David\u2062 Beamer \u2064and his son Todd \u200bBeamer enjoy a golf outing in an undated \u2063photo. \u200d(Courtesy David Beamer)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<h2>Business Travels<\/h2>\n<p>There were \u200da few things Mr.\u200b Beamer did \u2064not \u2062know on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.\u2062 On a business trip in California, he and \u200bsome co-workers were isolated in a meeting without a television and did\u2064 not immediately\u200c learn of \u200bthe four commercial airplanes \u200cthat were flown into the two\u2064 World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon, and \u200ca\u2063 Pennsylvania field.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe very few of us in that room might have been the only ones in America that didn\u2019t\u2064 have\u200d a TV going\u2062 that morning,\u201d Mr.\u200b Beamer said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode post-related-videos\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>He also didn\u2019t know his son had returned \u200bto the United States on Sept.\u200b 10. Mr. Todd Beamer, 32, had earned a sales incentive trip\u200c to Rome, Italy, and he\u2062 and his wife, Lisa Beamer, five months\u200b pregnant\u200c with\u2064 their \u200dthird \u2064child, had \u2064arrived home the night before.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn&#8217;t \u2062think they were coming \u200dback until Wednesday\u2063 or\u2064 Thursday of\u200b that week, so \u2064I didn&#8217;t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His\u2062 son,\u2062 who worked in software \u200bsales, had a California business meeting, so he got on an airplane, Flight\u200b 93, in Newark, New Jersey, the \u2064day after\u200b returning from\u200d vacation.<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>View of the United Flight 93 crash site from the Flight 93 National Memorial&#8217;s new visitors\u2064 center complex in \u2063Shanksville, Pa., on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015. (Gene J.\u2064 Puskar\/AP Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<h2>Fight Back<\/h2>\n<p>As often happened in Newark, the runway was backed up, so\u2062 the plane took off 25 minutes late.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>As the flight passed into Ohio, the\u200d four terrorists took\u200b control of the \u200dairplane, killing a flight \u2062attendant and a passenger. A terrorist took over\u2062 flying and announced over the speaker: \u201cI would like to tell you all to remain seated.\u2063 We have a bomb aboard, and \u2062we \u2062are going back to\u2062 the \u2064airport, and we have \u2063our demands, so please remain quiet,\u201d a\u200b cockpit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/flni\/learn\/historyculture\/cockpit-voice-recorder-transcript.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recording<\/a> \u200c shows.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The remaining passengers and crew were forced to the back of the plane, \u200dwhich had GTE Airfones on the back of every seat.<\/p>\n<p>Passengers and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-todd-beamers-dad-on-his-sons-iconic-words-lets-roll-and-the-9-11-legacy\/\" title=\"Todd Beamer's father reflects on his son's powerful words 'Let's Roll' and the lasting impact of 9\/11.\">crew members started making \u2062calls<\/a> to loved\u2062 ones and emergency authorities\u200b using Airfones or their own cell phones.\u2064 These calls helped\u200b investigators later understand what happened.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. \u2062Todd Beamer tried \u2062to call his wife, but he got routed to a GTE operator in Chicago and ultimately ended up \u200dspeaking with the operator\u2019s supervisor, Lisa \u200dJefferson.<\/p>\n<p>Because Flight 93 had taken off late, those connecting with people on the ground had time to learn of the attacks\u200b on the World Trade\u200b Center and \u200dPentagon and came to believe the hijackers\u2019 claim that they were going\u2062 to return to Newark was a lie to keep \u200dthem \u2063quiet. They compared information, then\u200c turned to democracy and voted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey didn&#8217;t know each other, except some of them were husband and wife,\u201d Mr. David Beamer said. \u201cAnd \u2063in the space\u2064 of about\u2064 30 minutes, they \u200bcame \u2063together, they considered options\u2014\u2018What are \u200dwe going\u200c to do?\u2019 They voted, and decided, here&#8217;s what we\u2019re doing. So they accomplished all that in about 30 minutes and launched this successful counterattack.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The plan \u200bwas to\u2062 fight \u2063back and not allow the plane to get to\u200b its target.<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width:230px\" class=\"alignleft\"><figcaption>David \u2063Beamer. (Courtesy David Beamer)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In California, Mr. \u2064David Beamer received a call from his wife, Peggy Beamer, who was on\u2062 the East\u200d Coast and had learned \u2062from their son\u2019s wife that he was on Flight 93. Mr. Beamer\u2019s boss \u2063offered to fly him to New Jersey, where a memorial service was planned, but no flights were allowed,\u200d so a co-worker offered to drive with \u200bhim across the United States to get to the memorial\u2064 on time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;d flown over the country many times, but\u2062 I had never\u200d driven from sea\u2064 to shining sea, so it was an experience. There were flags flying\u200c everywhere. Some of us remember that in the days after 9\/11, we\u200c were the \u2018United\u2019 \u2063States of America.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He recalls flags draped over many overhead passes on \u2064the freeway and flags \u200bin <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-like-we-dont-even-exist-bidens-keystone-pipeline-executive-order-hurting-small-businesses-and-towns-video\/\" title=\"\u201cIt\u2019s Like We Don\u2019t Even Exist\u201d \u2013 Biden\u2019s Keystone Pipeline Executive Order Hurting Small Businesses and Towns (VIDEO)\">small towns<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt \u200bwas\u200d a special, special\u200b time.\u200d And it \u2062was\u2064 about halfway through that trip when I \u200dgot a phone call providing\u2062 information about what the people, and certainly including our son Todd, what they \u2062had really done \u200bon the airplane,\u201d Mr. \u2063Beamer said. \u201cI \u200bthink we knew straight away that United Flight 93, its target wasn\u2019t a quiet meadow in Pennsylvania. \u200bAnd we\u2062 knew the \u2063passengers and the crew, they surely must have\u2062 done something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was really a blessing, that telephone call Todd was able to\u2064 have with that GTE telephone operator supervisor\u2026 whom I&#8217;ve referred to as an \u2018independent ear witness\u2019 as to the facts and circumstances. She&#8217;s \u200bthe one\u2062 that heard, \u2018Are you guys ready? Let\u2019s roll.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Those words came\u2064 just before passengers stormed the cockpit\u2064 and prevented the flight from \u200dreaching what the 9\/11 Commission believes would have\u200c been \u2064the U.S. Capitol in Washington, \u200babout 20 minutes flight from where the plane went down, killing all aboard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s\u200d certainly a\u200b blessing for the Beamer\u2064 clan, for \u200call the families, and\u2064 for\u200c the nation to know,\u200b yes indeed, the\u200d people on Flight 93 had the opportunity\u200b to fight back, and\u2064 they did. They launched our first successful counterattack in this new war in our homeland. It was \u200da blessing that this became verified.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>David Beamer\u2019s \u201cLet\u2019s Roll\u201d license plate honors his son Todd Beamer. (Courtesy David Beamer)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<h2>&#8216;Let\u2019s Roll&#8217;<\/h2>\n<p>The phrase \u201cLet\u2019s roll,\u201d anchored by the actions of ordinary citizens \u200bplaced in an extraordinary circumstance, became a source of\u200c inspiration for Americans.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201c\u2019Let&#8217;s roll\u2019 was a call to action\u2014for the team to \u200claunch. It was a call to\u200d action\u2014to do the right thing: fight\u2062 back. And certainly, to do it at the \u200bright time: now,\u201d \u200cMr. David\u200d Beamer\u200b said. \u201cBecause a \u200dfew minutes more, and it would\u2062 have made the enemy&#8217;s mission, in their eyes, a complete success.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since then, the phrase has been used many times.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;ve seen \u2063it on fire trucks and police cruisers. And some really brave soldiers have \u200bsent me some \u2062large shell casings with \u2018Let\u2019s roll\u2019 on it \u200bas well\u200c as signatures.\u201d And he has talked with\u2063 young people over the\u200b years who were not yet\u2062 born but may\u200c have heard his son\u2019s last words.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>\u201cI encourage them,\u2064 when they think about that phrase,\u2062 to remember what it meant on that day, which was: do \u2063the\u200c right thing, right now\u2014do it at\u200c the right time,\u201d Mr. Beamer said. \u201cWe all have\u200b decisions to make every day, and so, when you \u200care in a circumstance, do the right thing and do\u200d it at the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Blessed\u200b Assurance<\/h2>\n<p>His family considers it a blessing that they \u2064know Mr. Todd \u200dBeamer was a Christian.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThat&#8217;s where \u2063we have our comfort,\u200b our hope, and our \u2064assurance. None of us know \u200dwhen\u200b our \u200clast day is. The important \u200bthing \u2063is to have yourself sorted out, on what&#8217;s your \u2062worldview, on the day before. Todd\u2062 was\u200c a Christian. So is this \u2063family,\u201d Mr. David Beamer said. \u201cI know where he \u2062is. I \u2062know the future \u200bof his soul. In the 22 years since, all \u2062of us here on planet Earth, we&#8217;ve\u200c had good\u200c days, we&#8217;ve had challenging\u200d days. \u2064In the 22\u200b years since 9\/11,<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>game can hold a special meaning for those who have lost loved ones. David Beamer, father of Todd Beamer who died on 9\/11, felt a sense of joy watching his neighbor play wiffle ball with his sons. It reminded him of the precious moments he shared with his own son on the baseball field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":2027710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2027709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2027709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2027709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2027709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2027710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2027709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2027709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2027709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}