Let’s roll: Todd Beamer’s last phone call

 

image of Todd Beamer from Bookworm Room

This blog posted twice on 9/11. But today, I was browsing through the blogosphere and came across Bookworm Room’s transcript of Todd Beamer’s final phone call before Flight 93 crashed into Pennsylvania.  I have always viewed the passenger take-over of Flight 93 as the first American battle against Islamic jihad, but I did not anticipate being as overwhelmed by Mr. Beamer’s courage in the face of certain death.  I was also struck by the emergency operator’s handling of the emergency.  Here’s Bookworm’s transcript:

Todd: Hello… Operator…listen to me…I can’t speak very loud. – This is an emergency. I’m a passenger on a United flight to San Francisco.. We have a situation here….Our plane has been hijacked…..can you understand me?

Lisa: (exhaling a deep breath to herself) I understand… Can the hijackers see you talking on the phone?

Todd: No

Lisa: Can you tell me how many hijackers are on the plane?

Todd: There are three that we know of.

Lisa: Can you see any weapons? What kind of weapons do they have?

Todd: Yes…. they don’t have guns….they have knives – they took over the plane with knives.

Lisa: Do you mean…like steak knives?

Todd: No, these are razor knives…like box cutters.

Lisa: Can you tell what country these people are from?

Todd: No…..I don’t know. They sound like they’re from the mid-east.

Lisa: Have they said what they want?

Todd: Someone announced from the cockpit that there was a bomb on board. He said he was the captain and to stay in our seats and stay quiet.

He said that they were meeting these men’s demands and returning to the airport… It was very broken English, and… I’m telling you…it sounded fake!

Lisa: Ok sir, please give me your name.

Todd: My name is Todd Beamer.

Lisa: Ok Todd….my name is Lisa…Do you know your flight number? If you can’t remember, it’s on your ticket.

Todd: It’s United Flight 93.

Lisa: Now Todd, can you try to tell me exactly what happened?

Todd: Two of the hijackers were sitting in first class near the cockpit. A third one was sitting near the back of the coach section. The two up. front got into the cockpit somehow; there was shouting. The third hijacker said he had a bomb. It looks like a bomb. He’s got it tied to his waist with a red belt of some kind.

Lisa: So is the door to the cockpit open?

Todd: No, the hijackers shut it behind them.

Lisa: Has anyone been injured?

Todd: Yes, ..they…they killed one passenger sitting in first class. There’s been lots of shouting. We don’t know if the pilots are dead or alive. A flight attendant told me that the pilot and copilot had been forced from the cockpit and may have been wounded.

Lisa: Where is the 3rd hijacker now Todd?

Todd: He’s near the back of the plane. They forced most of the passengers into first class. There are fourteen of us here in the back. Five are flight attendants. He hasn’t noticed that I slipped into this pantry to get the phone. The guy with the bomb ordered us to sit on the floor in the rear of the plane……….oh Jesus.. Help!

Lisa: Todd….are you ok? Tell me what’s happening!

Todd: Hello…..We’re going down….I think we’re going to crash……Wait – wait a minute. No, we’re leveling off….we’re ok. I think we may be turning around…..That’s it – we changed directions. Do you hear me….we’re flying east again.

Lisa: Ok Todd…. What’s going on with the other passengers?

Todd: Everyone is… really scared. A few passengers with cell phones have made calls to relatives. A guy, Jeremy, was talking to his wife just before the hijacking started. She told him that hijackers had crashed two planes into the World Trade Center……Lisa is that true??

Lisa: Todd…..I have to tell you the truth…..it’s very bad. The World Trade Center is gone. Both of the towers have been destroyed.

Todd: Oh God —help us!

Lisa: A third plane was taken over by terrorists. It crashed into the Pentagon in Washington DC. Our country is under attack….and I’m afraid that your plane may be part of their plan.

Todd: Oh dear God. Dear God…….Lisa, will you do something for me?

Lisa: I’ll try….if I can….Yes.

Todd: I want you to call my wife and my kids for me and tell them what’s happened. Promise me you’ll call..

Lisa: I promise – I’ll call.

Todd: Our home number is 201 353-1073…….You have the same name as my wife…Lisa….We’ve been married for 10 years. She’s pregnant with our 3rd child. Tell her that I love her…….(choking up)..I’ll always love her..(clearing throat) We have two boys.. David, he’s 3 and Andrew, he’s 1…..Tell them……(choking) tell them that their daddy loves them and that he is so proud of them. (clearing throat again) Our baby is due January 12th…..I saw an ultra sound…..it was great….we still don’t know if it’s a girl or a boy………Lisa?

Lisa: (barely able to speak) I’ll tell them, I promise Todd.

Todd: I’m going back to the group—if I can get back I will…

Lisa: Todd, leave this line open…are you still there?……

Lisa: (dials the phone..) Hello, FBI, my name is Lisa Jefferson, I’m a telephone supervisor for GTE. I need to report a terrorist hijacking of a United Airlines Flight 93….Yes I’ll hold.

Goodwin: Hello, this is Agent Goodwin.. I understand you have a hijacking situation?

Lisa: Yes sir, I’ve been talking with a passenger, a Todd Beamer, on Flight 93 who managed to get to an air phone unnoticed.

Goodwin: Where did this flight originate, and what was its destination?

Lisa: The flight left Newark New Jersey at 8 A.M. departing for San Francisco. The hijackers took over the plane shortly after takeoff, and several minutes later the plane changed course – it is now flying east.

Goodwin: Ms. Jefferson…I need to talk to someone aboard that plane. Can you get me thru to the planes phone?

Lisa: I still have that line open sir, I can patch you through on a conference call…hold a mo…..

Todd: Hello Lisa, Lisa are you there?

Lisa: Yes, I’m here. Todd, I made a call to the FBI, Agent Goodwin is on the line and will be talking to you as well.

Todd: The others all know that this isn’t your normal hijacking. Jeremy called his wife again on his cell phone. She told him more about the World Trade Center and all.

Goodwin: Hello Todd. This is Agent Goodwin with the FBI. We have been monitoring your flight. Your plane is on a course for Washington, DC. These terrorists sent two planes into the World Trade Center and one plane into the Pentagon. Our best guess is that they plan to fly your plane into either the White House or the United States Capital Building.

Todd: I understand…hold on……I’ll…….I’ll be back..

Lisa: Mr. Goodwin, how much time do they have before they get to Washington?

Goodwin: Not long ma’am. They changed course over Cleveland; they’re approaching Pittsburgh now. Washington may be twenty minutes away.

Todd: (breathing a little heavier) The plane seems to be changing directions just a little. It’s getting pretty rough up here. The plane is flying real erratic….We’re not going to make it out of here. Listen to me….I want you to hear this….I have talked with the others….we have decided we would not be pawns in these hijackers suicidal plot.

Lisa: Todd, what are you going to do?

Todd: We’ve hatched a plan. Four of us are going to rush the hijacker with the bomb. After we take him out, we’ll break into the cockpit. A stewardess is getting some boiling water to throw on the hijackers at the controls. We’ll get them….and we’ll take them out. Lisa, …..will you do one last thing for me?

Lisa: Yes…What is it?

Todd: Would you pray with me?

They pray: Our father which art in Heaven

Hallowed be thy name,

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our trespasses

As we forgive our trespassers,

And lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory

Forever…..Amen

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…

He makes me to lie down in green pastures

He leads me beside the still waters

He restores my soul

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for His name’s sake

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death

I will fear no evil, for thou art with me…..

Todd: (softer) God help me…Jesus help me….(clears throat and louder)

Are you guys ready?……..

Let’s Roll……………………

[end transcript]

General Milley is no Todd Beamer. 

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Medicine Politicized

 

Following up on yesterday’s blog (see here), Mark Wauck at Meaning in History reports on “Boycotting the Mandates.”  He is looking at the damage done by politicians to the medical profession, and he quotes a physician who is probably risking her license to speak out:

“We are being pressured to vaccinate, and we see the large number of Vaccine complications in our ICU’s and ER’s that are going unreported. Doctors are afraid to report all of these vaccine complications even though we are clearly seeing them,” said Dr. Mollie James, an ICU (Intensive Care Unit) Doctor in New York City.

“The serious risks of complications are coming from those with natural immunity who then receive the vaccine or boosters, and frontline doctors and nurses have natural immunity after a year of fighting COVID and being exposed. These vaccine complication risks coming from an unwise mandate are serious, and include increased risks of stroke, heart attack, and death.”

. . .

“I would estimate 30% of the ICU patients in NYC are from vaccine complications but nobody wants to talk about that. They get coded as something else or they will ignore the fact an otherwise healthy person had a heart attack or stroke within 48 hours of receiving the vaccine,” Dr. James said. “I have seen vaccine complications in the general public, and even among healthcare providers. This is a serious problem and it’s only getting worse, and these mandates will make it much worse, but we won’t have the data to deal with it because of politics.”

. . .

“Never in my lifetime have I seen medicine so politicized, where individual treatments are banned because of who is promoting them. It’s a scary time to be a healthcare professional, and the public needs to know how bad things are getting. Your healthcare is being guided by political demands, not by what will lead to the best individual healthcare outcomes,” Dr. James said.

. . .

“These mandates are not scientific, they are not ethical, and they are not needed. We need Doctors to direct these policies to overcome COVID, not lying politicians like Biden who are going to make this crisis much worse.”

Read the full report here. 

In the last couple of days, I had three opportunities to object to wearing a mask.  One was at the dentist’s office, one was the polling place where I went to vote, and one was on an Uber trip with masks required.  In each case, I was not denied access.  

Anyone can obtain test kits to diagnose COVID at home, anyone can legally obtain prescriptions for treatment, and of course you can get zinc supplements over-the-counter. 

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Another casualty of COVID: The Medical Profession

 

In a column “I Will Never Trust Another Doctor” for American Thinker, Randi Pinkerton begins:

It happened again yesterday, twice.  Reading through comments on a blog post I found this: "I will never trust another doctor again."  I long ago lost count of the number of times I have seen that written.

You hear it, too.  In private conversations with people they trust, American citizens are heaping contempt on doctors for forcing a narrative on us that had no basis in science.  Many of us, perhaps even the majority, immediately recognized this virus for what it is: a common flu virus maybe engineered to be more contagious if not more fatal but hardly differing substantially from other influenza strains.  We have lived with seasonal flu all our lives.  We saw no reason to fear it until the medical community, and Anthony Fauci specifically, started telling lies. 

And once the lies started, they never stopped.  . . .  this scam has been one continual government operation.  It was exploited to allow for the theft of the 2020 election by means of mail-in ballots.  Having accomplished that, its purpose now is to keep the knee of government firmly on the population's neck. 

Well, that's pretty much how I see it.  Read the rest here. 

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Today is Election Day

 If you live in:

• Bay Village
• Cleveland
• Cleveland Hts.
• East Cleveland
• Garfield Hts.
• Lakewood
• Solon

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The IRS wants to spy on your bank records.

 

The IRS wants to spy on your bank records.  The last time we witnessed grotesque malfeasance by the IRS was back in 2012-13, when Lois Lerner oversaw the shameful foot-dragging on approving tax-exempt classifications; she "became the central figure in the 2013 IRS targeting controversy in the targeting of politically-aligned groups, either denying them tax-exempt status outright or delaying that status until they could no longer take effective part in the 2012 election."  I would not trust any of the claims being made to support this newest plan.  Here's Sabrina Eaton at cleveland.com:

A measure that would require financial institutions to report transactions to the Internal Revenue Service on any bank account with a balance of more than $600 has upset Ohio’s community bankers and Republican legislators, who are trying to get the provision removed from budget legislation that’s being written in Congress.

The Treasury Department says the proposal that’s drawing objections and others that would require that more information be sent to the IRS will reduce tax evasion and improve collection of taxes that are already due, generating an estimated $460 billion in tax revenue over ten years. It’s being suggested as a revenue offset for the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill that the Biden administration and Democrats who control Congress are drafting to spend more money on programs that they say would improve health care, education, infrastructure and counter climate change, among other things.

The Treasury Department says the extra data is being sought to target high earners who underreport their tax liabilities.

What a crock.  Improve education and ... good grief … climate change?  Targeting those who “underreport their tax liabilities”? 

Community Bankers Association of Ohio CEO Bob Palmer argues the proposal constitutes a “strong invasion of privacy,” and expressed doubt the data will help IRS catch wealthy tax evaders. He argues that people who have $600 in the bank typically are not wealthy individuals, and says his organization and its counterparts on the federal level are “pushing back at the administration and saying this makes no sense to us.”

. . .

A statement from Gibbs called the proposal “the type of big-brother style intrusion into private information we should all be worried about.

“Americans should not have to worry about the IRS looking over their shoulder whenever they loan money to family members or purchase Christmas presents for their children,” said Gibbs. “There is simply no need for the IRS to be collecting this information, and I urge the IRS to abandon their mass surveillance plans.”

Read the full report here.  

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Exemptions to the vaccine mandate!

 

Are the vaccine mandates about public health or politics?  That’s an easy one.  Here’s the report from Darragh Roche at Newsweek:

President Joe Biden's new vaccine mandates for federal employees don't apply to members of Congress or those who work for Congress or the federal court system.

Biden issued two executive orders on Thursday requiring vaccination against COVID for federal workers and contractors who work for the federal government. He also asked the Department of Labor to issue an emergency order requiring businesses with more than 100 employees to ensure their workers are vaccinated or tested on a weekly basis.

However, Biden's order on federal workers applies to employees of the executive branch. The House of Representatives and the Senate belong to the separate legislative branch, and the courts to the judicial branch of the federal government.

Read the rest here.

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Mark Steyn on “the post American world”

 

Mark Steyn has a sober column on the anniversary of 9-11: "The Years We Wasted."  Here’s his opener:

For most of the last two decades we have observed the anniversary of 9/11 by re-posting my columns from the first few days of the new era. We ceased to do so after September 11th 2017 when "a president who, on the campaign trail, mocked his predecessor's inability to use the words 'radical Islam' himself eschewed all mention of the I-word" - and a defense secretary laughably hyped as Mad Dog Mattis turned out to be just another dribbler from the Washington Generals and retreated to the madrassah wing of the Pentagon to explain that it was all just a theological misunderstanding.

We shall not resume our anniversary observances today. The war is lost, at home and abroad. . . .

The position of the United States is far weaker than it was twenty years ago. Around the planet, the assumption of friends and enemies alike is that the American moment is over and the future belongs elsewhere. They are making their dispositions accordingly. It is not a question of wishing "the post-American world", but of accepting the known facts.

Mark’s full column is here.  It is short, and it is brutal.

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