Honoring the Flight 93 Passengers

[coti]

I'm not usually one for a whole lot of sentimental 9/11 talk, but I don't think the story of what happened on Flight 93 is discussed enough, despite all of the movies that have been made about it. I never felt that the right tone was hit about what makes the story extraordinary.

The hijackers were going to crash the plane into either the White House or the Capitol- it's not clear which one from the evidence I've seen. Both buildings had already been evacuated by the time the plane would have reached Washington, but the passengers didn't know that, and I think the aftermath of 9/11 would have been much worse if one of those symbols of our government had been destroyed.


But what touches me about the story isn't just that these passengers sacrificed their lives to prevent another attack. It's not just that that makes them "heroes," another word I don't like to use lightly.

What stands out about what happened, for me, was the courage that it took for them to do anything at all. They overcame the shock and inertia of their plane being taken over and many of the crew being killed, somehow accurately assessing the bizarre situation that they had been placed in, and did something about it. It must have taken some serious mental strength to not give in to helplessness and paralysis.

I just have a hard time imagining most people taking action in a situation like that. What they did surprises me. I think they were special people.

You can read about them here:

http://www.unitedheroes.com/whotheywere.html

[alcibiades_mystery]

1. I think the opposite

I think *most* people, if faced with the situation, would have acted similarly.

They had much more time to understand what was happening than the passengers on the other flights.

Here's the thing: I think people are amazing. I've seen it again and again. If you get an AVERAGE group of people together in a tough situation, they will act in ways that we consider amazing most of the time. To my mind, the way the Flight 93 passengers responded is the default. This doesn't make it any less amazing. Indeed, it makes it even more amazing, because most people would have done what they did.

At the end of the day, I'm a democrat (small "d") because I think people will generally cooperate for the common good. To do otherwise is the exception in human behavior, not the rule.

[coti]

2. They had enough time to hear from their relatives over their phones

what was happening, and did, but to make the transition from the safe, innocent "pre-9/11" mentality to the "we have to do something NOW (with the great likelihood that we'll die as a result, and may be as good as dead anyway)" mentality, in about 20 minutes- I absolutely would not have expected that.

[mitchum]

7. Redd Foxx "Heroes are not born, they are cornered"

[EFerrari]

10. Boy, it that the truth. n/t

[sufrommich]

3. I honor them. I believe they knew they were not going to

live through their terrible ordeal and made a conscience decision to stop the plane before it got to a large population center. Bless them.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

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[redirish28]

5. I don't think the True story is known. More happened on that flight

and it seems "people" want to cover it up. I've heard of a theory that the passengers had gotten control of the plane but the orders where to take it down no matter what.


Granted it is a theory and might be a tinfoil one at that but you are right it seems 93 is a "side note" to that day and it is wrong.

[coti]

6. It's possible.

I'm not sure that it matters that much, though I doubt that it would have been shot down had the passengers gained control.

What matters to me is that they did something to prevent what they realized was going to happen.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[coti]

9. The cockpit voice recorder has been played for the passengers' families

and it showed that they tried to take control of the cockpit back.

You should look into what is at least known about what happened.

[EFerrari]

11. Did you hear that recording?

[coti]

12. No, the passengers' families did.

If it wasn't true, they probably would have said something.

[coti]

16. Not to mention the numerous reports from the families regarding the passengers' phone calls

where they told their families what they were going to do.

[sufrommich]

17. Are the passengers families lying? nt

[Call Me Wesley]

15. Exactly. (nt)

[Call Me Wesley]

13. The fight to survive.

Peace and comfort to their families.

[peace13]

14. Be happy that you haven't been locked by now.

Don't be surprised if it happens. 911....the forbidden.... unless I guess they look the other way on 9-11.

[mitchum]

18. You tax $$$$$$ at work

[stray cat]

19. They acted - unlike many of us on blogs that just chat

[Junkdrawer]

20. Did Cheney shoot down the plane once the passengers took it back?

Did this save the country from Cheney's plans for a takeover a la Continuity of Government?



http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520258716

[mitchum]

21. Their heroic efforts were interrupted by the US military

an unpleasant truth that doesn't fit into the official narrative