Author: Grumpy
Todd Beamer – A true American hero if ever there was one.
This is the word-for-word transcript of Todd’s phone call reporting the hijacking of Flight 93.
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-***3…….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.
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It would never leave my safe!
As World War II was winding down, armorers and inventors took a look at what was being used by U.S. servicemen and how to improve those tools. The M1 Garand was a resounding success, but even its inventor, John C. Garand, could see room for improvement. On the plus side was the legendary reliability of the first semi-automatic battle rifle, along with its phenomenal accuracy out to 500 yards and beyond. Its eight-round capacity easily outclassed the five-round capacity of most bolt-action rifles.
But, alas, there were a few flies in the pudding. First was the eight-round, en bloc clip. While eight rounds were good, it was apparent that future battles would call for even more firepower. Too, when the last round was fired, that damnable clip flew out of the rifle with a telltale “clink” that notified the enemy where the empty rifle was located. Another issue was the hand dance a rifleman had to do to load another clip without getting his thumb scrunched—the M1 thumb, as it was known. Military tacticians dreamed of one rifle that would cover the gamut of battle rifle, submachine gun and squad automatic weapon, thus the new rifle would need to be selective fire.
Work on modifications started even a little before the end of hostilities. Remington, Winchester and Springfield Armory (John Garand) began to float new prototypes. The T20 with modifications headed by Garand seemed to generate the most interest. It featured a slightly longer receiver to accommodate Browning Automatic Rifle 20-round magazines and had a switch to allow fully automatic capability at a rate of 700 r.p.m. The receiver was drilled and tapped on the side for a scope mount. Interestingly, the T20, despite the longer receiver, weighed in at just a hair more than 9 1/2 lbs. Dressed for battle with a bipod and an empty 20-round magazine, the T20 swelled to 12 1/2 lbs. Only 100 copies of the T20 were produced.
A U.S. soldier with an M14 in 1967 during the Vietnam War; Dept. of Defense image
Another prototype from Springfield Armory was the T25, a completely new rifle designed by Earle Harvey in 1945. The T25 was made around a new, light .30-cal. round, the T65 (7.62×49), that was a modified .300 Savage cartridge and designed by Frankfurt Arsenal. It featured a pistol grip and a buttstock reminiscent of the German MG 42 in an attempt to better control it in fully automatic. Trials at Fort Benning in 1950 revealed a few hiccups that were addressed by Harvey and a team of engineers at Springfield Armory. The newly modified T25 became the T47.
Concurrent with the rifle development, the T65 cartridge underwent some revisions as well. Lengthened a couple of millimeters and fueled by a new ball powder manufactured by Olin Industries, the new cartridge was coined the 7.62×51 NATO round, and because of the ball powder, it was very close to .30-’06 Sprg. in performance.
Still another concoction from Springfield Armory, the T44, was offered up for consideration. The T44 was cobbled from a T20E2 (the E2 designation was for a newer magazine to replace the large BAR mags) receiver and utilized a long operating rod and a piston instead of the T47’s gas cutoff system, which was prone to fouling. A straight operating rod and a bolt roller added reliability to the T44 rifle.
A series of trials conducted by the Infantry Board at Fort Benning in 1953 and ’54 pitted the T44, T47 and T48 (a modified FN FAL). When all was said and done, the T44 came out on top. The T47 experienced some reliability issues during cold weather tests, and while the T44 and T48 were about equal in performance, the T44 was about a pound lighter than the European; ergo it got the nod after everybody talked about it in 1957 under the designation U.S. Rifle, 7.62 mm M14.
The M14 featured a 22″ barrel—2″ shorter than the M1 Garand—and originally the stock was made of walnut. Later stocks were made from birch, and still later, fiberglass. Until 1960, the handguard was made of walnut, but it would char during fully automatic fire, so it was changed to a ventilated fiberglass. That was changed to solid fiberglass when it was discovered that the ventilated guards were too fragile. A rather long flash suppressor is threaded to the muzzle, though it can be replaced with a grenade launcher or sound suppressor. Bare weight without a magazine was 8.33 lbs., about a pound and a quarter less than an M1. A full 20-round magazine adds just a smidgen more than a pound to the weight of it, making it still lighter than a Garand.
Production began in 1959, and Springfield Armory, Winchester, Harrington & Richardson and Thompson-Ramo-Wooldridge Inc. (TRW) produced 1,376,031 M14 service rifles until 1964. Initially, the unit cost of an M14 rifle was $68.75, about 70 percent of the cost of an M1 Garand. Production problems plagued Springfield Armory early on because of the mistaken notion that the M14 could be built on existing Garand tooling. The M14 saw service in the early years of the Vietnam War. It enjoyed a reputation of effectiveness and reliability but was also saddled with the omnipresent infantry complaint of being too heavy and unwieldy in the heavily forested jungles of Southeast Asia.
U.S. Marines and ARVN troops defend a position against enemy attack during the Tet Offensive. Photo circa January 1968. Dept. of Defense image
The overwhelming tide toward a lighter rifle with lighter ammunition capable of handling shorter-range (up to 300 meters) engagements, along with the political meddling of then-Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, were the death knell of M14 production. Despite the complaints of officers on the battlefield, the M14 was replaced by the M16 rifle. McNamara ordered existing M14s to be destroyed. Most were de-milled—cut in two by a torch or shear—and many were brand new and unfired. Savvy officers did not send all of their M14 rifles to the scrap yard, though. Many were retained for sniper work as the M21 sniper rifle and served well in that role until replaced by the M24 SWS in 1988. 
During the ensuing years, the M14 has been selectively deployed in a variety of roles, including Designated Marksman in the Marine Corps (right, Dept. of Defense photo), as well as SEAL teams and Spec Ops details. These rifles are tuned for their purpose of neutralizing multiple targets at extended range. The M14 has been dolled up and chromed for its role in parades and ceremonies. Most are now semi-automatic.
Springfield Armory produces a semi-automatic M1A rifle of superb quality and Fulton Armory does likewise with its M14 series for civilians. These rifles do not come cheap. An entry level M1A starts at $1,704, and dolled up versions can exceed three grand. Secondary (used) M1As or M14s won’t save you much. They are that popular.
Additional Reading:
The M14: Uncle Sam’s New Automatic Rifle (Archives)
M1A: The M14’s Successful Sibling
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Guess who went to the Range today?
