Todd Beamer

Todd Morgan Beamer (November 24, 1968 – September 11, 2001) was a passenger aboard United Airlines Flight 93 who has been called a hero for his actions in the September 11, 2001 attacks. [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/01/10/archive/main323865.shtml "Hijack Hero's Baby Born: Todd Beamer's Daughter Will Carry His Middle Name"] , "CBS News", January 10, 2002. Accessed September 7, 2008. "Lisa Beamer, the widow of one of the hero passengers who vowed to fight back before their hijacked plane crashed in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, has given birth to a healthy baby girl. "] [Pierce, Victoria. [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-78532677.html "Hero's wife handling spotlight"] , "Daily Herald (Arlington Heights)", September 22, 2001. Accessed September 7, 2008. "Todd Beamer is among those being hailed as a hero for foiling several hijackers and perhaps preventing a fourth crash into a landmark building on Sept. 11."]

Beamer attended Los Gatos High School, Wheaton Academy, DePaul University, California State University, Fresno and Wheaton College. In September 2001, he was an account manager for Oracle and resided in Cranbury, New Jersey, with his wife, Lisa Beamer, and two sons, David and Drew. His daughter, Morgan Kay, was born January 9, 2002, four months after Beamer's death.

After United 93 was hijacked, Beamer and other passengers communicated with people on the ground via in-plane and cell phones, and learned that the World Trade Center had been attacked using hijacked airplanes. Beamer tried to place a credit card call through a phone located on the back of a plane seat but was routed to a customer-service representative instead, who passed him on to GTE supervisor Lisa Jefferson. Beamer reported that one passenger was killed and, later, that a flight attendant had told him the pilot and co-pilot had been forced from the cockpit and may have been wounded. He was also on the phone when the plane made its turn in a southeasterly direction, a move that had him briefly panicking. Later, he told the operator that some of the plane's passengers were planning to "jump on" the hijackers. According to Jefferson, Beamer's last audible words were "Are you guys ready? Let's roll." [cite news |last= McKinnon| first=Jim |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/headlines/20010916phonecallnat3p3.asp |title=The phone line from Flight 93 was still open when a GTE operator heard Todd Beamer say: 'Are you guys ready? Let's roll' |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=2001-09-16 |accessdate=2007-08-12]

Beamer's phrase "Let's roll" was widely cited and later became a battle cry for those fighting Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. [cite news |last=Perl |first = Peter|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A56110-2002May8&notFound=true |title=Hallowed Ground |work=Washington Post |date=2002-05-12 |accessdate=2007-08-12]

At least four facilities have been named for Beamer: a post office in Cranbury, New Jersey, Todd Beamer High School in Federal Way, Washington, the Todd M. Beamer Student Center at Wheaton College, and a neighborhood park in Fresno, California.

Beamer was posthumously awarded with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award in 2002.

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