“Let’s roll.”
That phrase became synonymous with Flight 93 and 9/11 — a phrase that Todd Beamer uttered just moments before he and other passengers took down a plane that had been hijacked by terrorists.
Now, students at the high school named after Todd Beamer are taking action to honor him and the others on the flight.
Todd Beamer High School will hold an Everyday Heroes event on May 12 to garner donations for the Flight 93 National Memorial.
At that event will be David and Peggy Beamer, the parents of Todd Beamer.
“We actually have an ongoing relationship with the Beamers,” staff organizer Scott Haines said. “At their last visit to the school, they asked if we would consider helping with the national memorial.”
Since last December, and really kicking it into high gear in January, the leadership class at Todd Beamer has been working on organizing the event, which will feature both the Beamers as speakers, along with State Sen. Tracey J. Eide and State Rep. Skip Priest of District 30.
Students will have assemblies earlier in the day. At 7 p.m., the community is invited to the campus to hear the speakers and watch two films. One film is from www.honorflight93.org, a Web site run by the National Park Service. The second film is done by the students, addressing what it means to be a hero.
A reception will follow the event.
Donations will be accepted at the event to help raise money for a monument in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, where the plane crashed.
Currently, there is temporary monument at the crash site. However, a design has already been chosen for the permanent monument.
According to www.honorflight93.org, the final design was selected out of more than 1,000 submissions and includes seven elements. The “Tower of Voices,” which is tall enough to be seen from the highway and holds 40 wind chimes, represents the 40 passenger and crew members. “The Bowl,” “Entry Portal” and “40 Memorial Groves,” each consisting of 40 red and sugar maples; the “Wetlands” and the “Sacred Ground,” where the plane crashed; and the “Western Overlook.”
The entire project will cost an estimated $60 million to $70 million and still needs another $2 million to break ground, Haines said.
“We’re probably not going to raise the $2 million,” Haines said. “But I don’t want to underestimate.”
Donations can also be made directly to www.honorflight93.org.
“We’re very excited about hosting this,” Haines said. “It’s not just a one-time event. We are looking at it as a start, an ongoing awareness campaign until the memorial has opened.”
Learn more
To learn more, contact Scott Haines at (253) 945-2780.
