We are all Todd Beamers, now

Boeing 757 (like Flight 93) leaving Newark
Photo credit: Bing Hui Yau on unsplash

In the afterglow of last week’s reflections on 9-11, Todd Beamer and the resistance fighters aboard United Flight 93 have been much on my mind.

These ordinary citizens realized that their airplane had been hijacked. But that was only the first shock. Until that day, hijackers made demands and promised safety if the demands were met. The proper response was: Stay calm and wait for the professional hostage negotiators to arrive. But that morning, everything changed. 

Through cellular communication, the passengers of Flight 93 learned that three other hijacking situations had not ended by landing the plane and commencing hostage negotiations. Instead, one by one, planes slammed into targets making the carnage ten times worse. This was the second shock. We have had decades of hindsight to process this. But the passengers of Flight 93 were forced to grasp their new reality on the fly.

Beamer and company had to process the new threat in real time. Imagine the hushed conversation among the passengers as they took in the situation and came to the horrific realization that the civilian airplane they had boarded was now a militarized weapon. It had become a 90-ton missile, loaded and bearing enough fuel to immolate its target—hurtling towards an unknown number of innocents at 500 miles per hour.

Todd Beamer

None of these people had official standing. They were neither flight officers nor crew. They were not law enforcement officers or counter-terrorism experts. They had no training for the situation. And they didn’t have the luxury of time to ponder their predicament over days. The only authority they had was the truth of the moment and their own humanity. And they had minutes to act.

But Beamer understood. The awesome power that enabled 90 tons of materials and fuel peacefully and safely to convey passengers had been hijacked into the employ of evil. He understood that the evil exceeded the death of those aboard. Rather, they themselves had become a weapon against untold innocents on the ground. Control of the plane was not just about self-preservation. It was about the preservation of hundreds ignorant of the approaching threat.

In that moment, the option of inactivity was taken off the table. Beamer heard the call of a thousand voices saying, “We don’t even know that you exist, but you are the only one in a position to avert our destruction.” It was a responsibility he could not shirk. 

Beamer’s wife, Lisa, confirms his realization in her book, Let’s Roll!: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Courage. There she related an interview with Lisa Jefferson, the last person with whom he spoke. Discussing his plan to rush the cockpit, she asked, “Are you sure that’s what you want to do?” He answered, “It’s what I have to do.” There is no choice left in these words. Duty is an unremitting obligation.

The passengers of Flight 93

Last week, Kylee Zempel published a thoughtful piece in the Federalist asking, “Would you have stormed the cockpit?” It’s a fair question. But I think our question is more immediate than that. Beamer’s choice 20 years ago is a microcosm of our situation today.

Institutions, like airplanes, have been built to be powerful for the accomplishment of much good. But that power can be hijacked for evil purposes. When control of these institutions is taken from the people that they were built to serve, the havoc that they can wreak on civilization is proportional to their power for good. This is more than a danger to its members. Like Flight 93, they have become hijacked airplanes aimed at the destruction of innocents who don’t even know the institution exists.

The long march through America’s institutions has weaponized many. The cockpits of corporations, professional associations and unions, charities, political parties, and government bureaucracies have been invaded by people intent on destroying our world. Those who have poured out their talents and treasure to make them strong, are suddenly astonished to find themselves aboard a missile aimed at the heart of America.

For too long we have reacted to this situation like the hijacked hostages of old: Staying calm and waiting for others to act. But by now, you should notice the results of this strategy. Many institutions have exploded over their target. The rescuers never arrived. Think of the Boy Scouts, professional sports leagues, and American corporations making billions on the backs of foreign slaves. Consider the havoc wrought on the Afghani people and ask yourself who is positioned to end it. 

Like Todd Beamer, once you see the pattern you can no longer escape the truth. You can assess the institutions you inhabit—maybe the school system, or your place of employment, or your church. You can take responsibility, develop a plan and rise from your seat. You may be the only one positioned to protect the innocent. If so, only one option remains. “Let’s Roll.”

Also published in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, September 17, 2021.