David Beamer, father of 9/11 victim hero Todd Beamer, a passenger on Flight 93, on the movie that debuts tomorrow:
There are those who question the timing of this project and the painful memories it evokes. Clearly, the film portrays the reality of the attack on our homeland and its terrible consequences. Often we attend movies to escape reality and fantasize a bit. In this case and at this time, it is appropriate to get a dose of reality about this war and the real enemy we face. It is not too soon for this story to be told, seen and heard. But it is too soon for us to become complacent. It is too soon for us to think of this war in only national terms. We need to be mindful that this enemy, who made those holes in our landscape and caused the deaths of some 3,000 of our fellow free people, has a vision to personally kill or convert each and every one of us. This film reminds us that this war is personal. This enemy is on a fanatical mission to take away our lives and liberty–the liberty that has been secured for us by those whose names are on those walls in Battery Park and so many other walls and stones throughout this nation. This enemy seeks to take away the free will that our Creator has endowed in us. Patrick Henry got it right some 231 years ago. Living without liberty is not living at all. …
This film further reminds us of the nature of the enemy we face. An enemy who will stop at nothing to achieve world domination and force a life devoid of freedom upon all. Their methods are inhumane and their targets are the innocent and unsuspecting. We call this conflict the “War on Terror.” This film is a wake-up call. And although we abhor terrorism as a tactic, we are at war with a real enemy and it is personal.
There are those who would hope to escape the pain of war. Can’t we just live and let live and pretend every thing is OK? Let’s discuss, negotiate, reason together. The film accurately shows an enemy who will stop at nothing in a quest for control. This enemy does not seek our resources, our land or our materials, but rather to alter our very way of life.
I encourage my fellow Americans and free people everywhere to see “United 93.”
Amen. Let’s roll.
(Hat tip: InstaPundit.)
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Categories: Terrorism & Homeland Security, TV, Movies & Entertainment
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April 27th, 2006 at 2:28:30 pm
This movie is going to be huge.
April 27th, 2006 at 2:46:00 pm
I liked the A & E movie that was on a few months ago. I thought it was really faithful to the transcripts and 9/11 report, and I am curious how much liberty the theater version will take in the name of entertainment
April 27th, 2006 at 3:08:46 pm
My wife is adamant that she will NOT see this movie (she got physically ill from the emotional impact during Schindler’s List), but wants me to buy an extra ticket that would be for her to support the movie.
Some people have said self preservation was the primary reason they fought back, and maybe it was. I dunno.
But the undeniable fact is that by not lying down complacently to their hijackers, at the least they surely saved hundreds of more lives if not landmarks of our way of life like the White House and Capitol Building.
April 27th, 2006 at 3:49:11 pm
“Some people have said self preservation was the primary reason they fought back, and maybe it was. I dunno.”
Well, actually, you could say the same thing about the D-Day forces once they landed on the beach. At some point it is kill or be killed.
April 27th, 2006 at 4:03:21 pm
Angrier -
Good point with that as well. And, though its heartless, its probably a good thing that there was no retreat even possible because if there was, several beaches would not have been taken.
April 27th, 2006 at 4:21:43 pm
We are going tomorrow to United 93.
I personally never go to violent films because like LoJo’s wife they make me ill but this time I am going and I am taking my entire family.
In October of 2004 I was on a plane with my husband Jim and my Father Franz returning home from Germany.
That flight was the flight from hell for several reasons.
1) There was a bomb threat against the flight ( a 747 ) and we had to make an emergency landing in England after circling for hours to dump all the fuel.
2) My father became ill on the flight ( how ill I did not know until the next day )
When the captain came on the speaker telling us there was a bomb threat against our plane my heart sank.
My first thoughts were of my children and the possibly that I may never see them again.
My second thought was how much I hated Terrorists and this was not making me feel any better about them
My third thought was that if we were going to die that day I was so lucky to have my father and Jim there to tell them how much I loved them.
As you can see I am still here.
There was no bomb and we made it home safely but not with out effect.
My father who was not feeling well ( we thought it was the flu ) was exhausted from the ordeal and the 13 extra hours it added to our trip home.
By the time we reached out front door a 12 hour journey had turned into a 25 hour trip and we all fell into bed.
The next morning when I woke up I checked in on my father and he had passed away.
To this day I struggle with the fact that I should have taken my father to the Dr. the night we came home but we were all so exhausted we decided that if in the morning he was still not feeling better we would go see a Dr.
Go see this film… it could happen to you too.
April 27th, 2006 at 4:54:37 pm
Toni -
My deepest sympathies for your Dad.
April 27th, 2006 at 5:41:35 pm
Thank you.
April 27th, 2006 at 5:59:38 pm
Not going to see the film. Just don’t care.
April 27th, 2006 at 6:10:55 pm
Iam going to see it for the same reason I read “Night” by Elie Weisel.
It happend, it could happen again, it is our history, and education of what people are capable of. Both good and bad.
I know it will be hard for me to watch, just like with the book, I had to put it down several times. Just remember how hard it must have been for them. As far as the self preservation I understand that theory, but if you think back to that day and how you felt knowing what had just happend. How that made you feel. I was angry, and felt a huge need to protect and serve in some way. I bet they may have felt the same way, and just needed to do something.
April 27th, 2006 at 7:52:41 pm
The end result of what they did was heroic, but I believe the prime motivation that day was self-preservation. As John McCain said when someone called him a hero, “All I did was survive.” I think that’s what they were trying to do. I think they had a plan to take control of the plane because they knew they were going to die for sure if they didn’t. It just so happens their actions prevented the plane from hitting the U.S. Capitol. It doesn’t make their actions any less heroic. Their response was human, not Bruce Willis in Die Hard II.
April 27th, 2006 at 7:55:50 pm
My favorite scene is that tiny clip from the trailer when that Terrorist POS sees the assault coming right at him (not unlike that orc from ROTK seeing the Rohhirrim charge) and starts wetting his pants. It’s the truest moment in the film - These Islamis Terrorists are cowards and pressed by real heroes they will fall apart.
April 27th, 2006 at 8:18:24 pm
What one person call’s Heroic another calls “Just doing what anyone would do”
I think the passengers on flight 93 were hero’s because they gave us all a lesson in what to do next time.
I was just at the airport the other day and over heard a man telling his young son not to worry because what
happened on September 11th will never happen again because the passengers will fight back now… that says it all.
Just as the passengers fought for their lives, our country and all countries who
want to live free must fight for our way of life.
They may have been fighting the terrorist to be able to spend just another day with their families but in the end that is what we all fight for.
April 27th, 2006 at 8:24:51 pm
They may have been fighting the terrorist to be able to spend just another day with their families but in the end that is what we all fight for.
Well said!
April 27th, 2006 at 8:58:41 pm
“What one person call’s Heroic another calls “Just doing what anyone would do.â€?
I don’t think anyone is saying that. You can fight for your own survival and be heroic in the process. It’s not an either/or proposition. People are pretty complex.
April 28th, 2006 at 12:09:33 am
Mad, so what are you saying? That the passengers fought back to survive, and in doing so acted heroically? Or are you saying that they simply fought back to survive and were not heroic?
Personally, I don’t care WHY they tried to stop the plane. I think its painfully obvious that they were acting in order to save their lives. The CVR picks up a voice shortly before impact that yells: “In the cockpit or we’re all going to die.”
I just don’t see why that matters. I’m just glad that they stopped the plane from crashing into the Capitol Building…and for that, they’re my heroes
April 28th, 2006 at 12:26:17 am
This movie isn’t even out yet, and I’m already tired of hearing about it.
April 28th, 2006 at 9:46:04 am
Geez . . . whether you’re rushing a cockpit full of terrorists armed with godknowswhat to try and save yourself, or prevent a bigger disaster on the ground, it still takes HUGE BALLS! Lots of people in the same situation (especially those of us navel-gazing from behind our computer screens) would no doubt be too frozen with fear or despair to do what they did.
April 28th, 2006 at 10:28:34 am
It is our primal instinct to survive and to protect what we love. “Our territory” I also believe they sent a message that we will fight back. I think that message hit harder then us going to war with Iraq. That we the civilians have passion to live and protect our families and country. No matter what anyone thinks, I believe we are all in awe of what they did. The least I can certainly do is honor them by seeing the movie.
April 28th, 2006 at 3:02:18 pm
Good God! These people fought to save their lives and were heroes. Why the fuck does everything have to become politicized and questioned?!
April 28th, 2006 at 3:10:43 pm
Lee Siegel weighs in.
April 28th, 2006 at 4:17:58 pm
Siegel nails it perfectly. There were no two-dimensional John Waynes on that flight. They were human beings who tried to save their own lives and saved others in the process, though they themselves died. Of course some passengers sat in their seats, petrified with fear. And of course other passengers tried to take the plane back. You know what? I bet the passengers who tried to take the plane back didn’t give one fucking thought about the passengers who sat down and they certainly never considered or cared about what you, me or anyone else would say about their actions from the comfort of our desktops.
April 28th, 2006 at 4:37:23 pm
Brendan -
Lee Siegel’s pretentiousness is just abounding. In one breath he admits that his version of events is just that and that he has not seen the movie.
Then, in the next breath, he castigates his ‘peers’ for thier own version of events and how the movie will delve into the symbolic nonsense (which according to critic’s consensus, it doesn’t).
He wants a movie to focus and remind us all of who fragile and precious life is? How about a movie that reminds us how brave and noble we can be.
Yeesh.
April 28th, 2006 at 4:41:07 pm
Angrier -
All Siegel nails is trying to convince people to not judge those who did not fight back on that flight. And frankly, I don’t see that particular dynamic happening. Are people criticizing those who didn’t?
Siegel admits its his version and that in his version, everyone’s interest was for the self. And I’m sure there is some truth to that. But it is a little short-sighted to say that nobody’s thoughts were about saving the Capitol or anything.
Finally, given that Greengrass has so meticulously researched this film, I think his version holds a bit more credibility.
April 28th, 2006 at 8:43:17 pm
“Finally, given that Greengrass has so meticulously researched this film, I think his version holds a bit more credibility.”
You mean like the terrorist pissing himself, which there is no proof of? Or the terrorist pulling a photo of the Capitol out of his pocket, which there is no proof of? Or, possibly the worst of all, the passengers actually breaking into the cockpit and trying to wrestle control of the plane away from the hijackers which, according to EVERY source possible, simply did not happen?
I give credit to Greengrass for making a movie that most people so far think is great and respectful of those who died. However, I think the real story was pretty dramatic enough as it was without these kinds of embellishments.
April 28th, 2006 at 8:46:24 pm
“But it is a little short-sighted to say that nobody’s thoughts were about saving the Capitol or anything.”
I think it isn’t short-sighted at all to say that. I think that fact would have dawned on them had they succeeded in taking control of the plane and surviving. But at that moment, that would have been a distant consideration that probably had very little to do with their decision to act in an effort of self-preservation.
April 28th, 2006 at 8:51:14 pm
There is “no proof of” any particular set of details, because we don’t have live video footage of what happened inside that plane. We have only very limited details from phone calls (or rather, people’s memories of phone calls) and the black boxes. If the movie contained only events of which there are “proof,” 90% of it would be a blank screen. So obviously there has to be some embellishment. The question is whether those embellishments are tasteful and rational, based on what we do know.
As for breaking into the cockpit, I was under the impression that it was simply unclear whether that happened, not that it had been conclusively disproven.
April 28th, 2006 at 8:58:16 pm
Up until 9/11, the concept of a hijacking almost invariably did not include the hijackers intentionally trying to crash the plane. While those in their seats were riveted in fear, I don’t think they ever suspected their hijackers were aiming to take out the Capitol in an act of suicide–until they turned on their cell phones and made calls to loved ones with the phones in the seats and such and found out what was happening at the Pentagon and WTC. At that point, intent becomes almost meaningless: Trying to prevent the hijackers from crashing the plane into the Capitol and trying to overtake the hijackers and gain control of the plane to save lives is the same thing. So the argument over intent seems rather silly to me. All of us flying these days know that their are suicidal maniacs who’d love to crash the plane and kill us all, but on that September morning, such was not yet commonly understood.
April 28th, 2006 at 9:03:00 pm
To expand on that, prior to 9/11, it was always recommended that if a plane is hijacked, the passengers should do nothing and follow orders, so they aren’t hurt or killed (think of Die Hard 2). After 9/11, the risk analysis flipped completely, and the price of doing nothing was suddenly seen as much greater than taking proactive actions to disarm the hijackers. Flight 93 is a compelling story not just because it is a story of people fighting for their lives against the bad guys, but because it represents the moment in time when passengers realized that the risk analysis had changed and the hijacking paradigm had been irrevocably altered. The WTC and Pentagon crash victims who were in the three planes had no idea what they were in for, and so presumably they sat tight. The Flight 93 victims mark the moment of awareness, and point the way to the future: We must fight these guys tooth and nail, and never remain passive. Passivity against these guys is the gaurantor of losing and dying. Only proactive approaches work against suicidal terrorists.