Flight 93 should be remembered for many reasons.
Foremost is that it was the first victory in the War on Terrorism, though it came at a high price. The terrorists’ plan depended on the passenger’s common assumption that their temporary cooperation with hijackers would likely result in their eventual release or rescue, which is how most hijackings had ended in the past.
That assumption forever changed the instant Flight 93 passengers learned the fate of the other three hijacked planes. The passengers knew that any chance of survival was not a matter of negotiation and diplomacy — it was a matter of fighting force with force. That is exactly what America should have been doing all along with Islamic terrorists and their supporters.
Passenger Jeremy Glick spoke these words to his wife minutes before the crash: “Our best chance is to fight these people, rather than accept it.” His words were true before 9/11 and they are still true today.
Another aspect of Flight 93 that deserves remembering is this: Authorities had F-16 fighter jets in the air and authorized to, if necessary, deliberately target Flight 93 with missiles and blow it out of the sky. That is: We were prepared to kill innocent American captives in order to prevent still more Americans from being murdered. This act would have been morally justified and should be remembered every time someone criticizes America (and Israel for that matter) for harming innocents while waging a war of self-defense.
Unlike, say, Palestinian terrorists, our goal is not to kill innocents. But in a war of self-defense, just as might have been with Flight 93, sometimes it is necessary. The guilt for those deaths is on the heads of those terrorists and tyrants who initiated force against us or threatened to do so.
The lessons and the heroes of Flight 93 deserve our remembrance.
