Todd Beamer: American Hero, Wheaton College Grad, Remembered

Wheaton IL

08 September, 2021

10:03 PM

Description

WHEATON, IL — Those who remember Sept. 11, 2001, most likely have the story of where they were that day memorized. Though Wheaton sits over 800 miles away from New York City, the tragic terrorist attacks that occurred on that date took the life of a resident who remains a hometown hero. Michigan native and Wheaton College graduate Todd M. Beamer was a passenger aboard United Airlines Flight 93 when it was taken over by hijackers. He helped lead the charge of people who took control of the cockpit to crash the plane in a Pennsylvania field instead of the rumored target, the White House. Wheaton was Beamer's first hometown and he graduated from Wheaton College in 1991. His final message with dispatch, taken from an Oakbrook call center, became a slogan for American resilience in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Locally, "Let's roll" adorns the front of the Todd Beamer Student Center of his alma mater, a choice school officials said just made sense. The center began construction in 2002 and was completed two years later. Of its recent visitors, Beamer's wife, fellow Wheaton graduate Lisa Brosious Beamer. Lisa Jefferson, the dispatcher who took Todd Beamer's famous call from Flight 93 has told reporters her and Lisa are "like girlfriends," offering support in the years since a post office, student center and high school have gone up in Todd's name. "Todd's story should always be remembered and honored," said Wheaton College Dean Steve Ivester in a campus publication. "I think the bas-relief moves each rising generation of students that walk the halls of the Beamer Center to be inspired by the courage Todd displayed on Flight 93 and to remember their own calling to be faithful courageous followers of Jesus Christ." The bas-relief is a traditional type of molding. At the student center, an etching of Beamer is shown walking into into the distance, holding the hands of his sons. "Let's roll" is engraved underneath. Jefferson has said Beamer said the Lord's Prayer and Psalm 23 before he spoke the now famous words. "At age 32, I never expected to be choosing the words for husband's headstone," said Brosious Beamer at Wheaton College's 2016 graduation. "But when it came time the decision wasn't hard. [His favorite words] are a recipe for a helpful, purposeful life."