Among the Heroes: United Flight 93 and the Passengers and Crew Who Fought Back

by Jere Longman

Book Overview

On the evening of September 14, as the sun set over the flag-draped county courthouse in Somerset, Pennsylvania, fifteen hundred mourners gathered together as Governor Tom Ridge presided over a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060099089
• Release Date: July 2002
• Publisher: Harper
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.37 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.0" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

We Cannot Hallow This Ground

I heard the author interviewed on National Public Radio recently, bought the book immediately and read it straight through. I hardly know what to say about the book lest I trivialize such a horrible event in our nation's history. Mere words become cliches in the face of such courage and bravery of the passangers and crew of United Flight 93. Two things jumped out at me when I read this book. First, several of the passengers and/or friends or relatives had premonitions that they should not take this flight. Second, many of the passengers changed their flight plans at the last minute and got on this plane because there were so many empty seats.I was also taken by the diversity of those aboard. (After all, wasn't that one of the problems of the misguided monsters, that they did not believe in the diversity of the U. S.?) There were Caucasians, African Americans, a Puerto-Rican American, a Japanese student, a gay man, a married Baptist couple, Jewish folk, a disabled person, older people, young people, people on vacation, others on work assignments. The book is extremely well written although I suspect that it almost wrote itself. I do not mean to take anything away from Mr. Longman, but a writer would have to work hard to make such a tragic event uninteresting. He includes photographs of the crew and passengers and fleshes out their lives. One passenger is on his way to pick up the remains of a loved one. Another passenger we find out collects refrigerator magnets from cities she has visited, a fact that made we smile since I have the same quirk.Although these 40 people lost their lives, they did not go gentle. From the flight attendant who boiled water to throw on these devils to the other passengers who apparently stormed the cockpit, surely they are the best of our country's best citizens. There are goverment officials walking around Washington today who most assuredly owe their lives to these valiant passengers and crew.One final thing. The people who got to the plane after it crashed in that field in Pennsylvania said that had they not known better, they would have thought the plane was empty, that it was as if the plane had made a previous landing and let off all the passengers. And I learned a chilling new phrase. The official cause of death of these passengers and crew was "death by fragmentation."It is fitting that someone in this book compared the resting place of these good people to Gettysburg. In the words of our greatest orator: "We cannot hallow this ground."

I Highly Recommend This Book

I recently read the book, "Among the Heroes", by Jere Longman. Through multiple interviews and various news accounts the author attempts to create a chronological account of the horrific journey. His words enable me to feel as though I know the Passengers and Crew of Flight 93 personally. Stopping far short of crediting any particular person or persons, he paints a picture that forces the reader to realize each and every one of them was, indeed, heroic. Longman leaves many questions unanswered, admitting we will never know exactly what happened. Nonetheless, the book, or the [real-life] characters within, left me in awe. Within two days I had traveled to Shanksville, PA, the site of the crash. Read the book. You'll be lending it out to friends-- I nearly guarantee it.

The Humanity of Heroism

Throughout American history, otherwise ordinary people have displayed extraordinary courage when in life-threatening situations. The tragic events of September 11th offer a number of examples. The most publicized involves those aboard United flight 93 which crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. While huddled to the rear of the plane, several called loved ones; Todd Beamer spoke at length with an GTE-Verizon operator and, together, they recited the Lord's Prayer. She then heard Beamer ask "Are you guys ready? Let's roll!" By then, Beamer and his fellow passengers knew the fate of the other three skyjacked planes and rushed the cockpit. The plane crashed. Everyone aboard died. What we have here is a combination of transcriptions of cell phone calls and the "black box" tapes, mini-biographies, obituaries, reminiscences by the victims' relatives and friends, and Longman's own highly skillful analysis of what he learned during his extensive research. It is possible but unlikely that much more information about specific developments during the flight will be forthcoming. Lisa Beamer has already written one book and, over time, I think others among the victims' relatives and friends will also share their own thoughts and feelings about the impact on them following the crash of United flight 93. A chronicle such as this helps to give "human faces" to the victims' names. The same is true of a special section {"A Nation Challenged") which the New York Times published each day from September 15th until February 5th. A total of 1,800 "portraits of grief" were eventually featured. (This material is now available in a single volume, Portraits of 9/11/01: The Collected "Portraits of Grief" from the New York Times.) Obviously, heroism was demonstrated by so many people throughout and following the four skyjackings. The general public knows almost nothing about what happened aboard the first three flights and not much more about the fourth. For example, at what point did at least some of 93's passengers decide to rush the cockpit? Assuming Beamer was their leader, who else accompanied him? Then what happened? What aboiut the United flight crew? For me, such details are far less significant than the fact that people very much like those with whom I have traveled on numerous flights over the years became "citizen soldiers" and responded courageously to what must have been a terrifying crisis. Because of Longman's book and the "portraits of grief," it is possible to appreciate what Stephen Ambrose has characterized as "uncommon valor."

Heartwarming-Heartbreaking

"Among the Heroes" by Jere Longman examines the ordinary lives of the passengers and crew onboard hijacked United Flight 93, and their extraordinary attempt to regain control of the plane once they learned from friends and family via cellphone and Airfone that commercial planes were being used as missiles against American cities. I normally would have read this book in one sitting. But it's hard to read while your eyes are filled with tears. "Among the Heroes" is a heartwarming yet heartbreaking tale of courage and grace.

Charged With A Powerful Testimony

Lesser men hijack planes. Great men thwart them. Such were the men and women on Flight 93. In "Among the Heroes: United Flight 93 and the Passengers and Crew Who Fought Back" we read the details and facts of people who rose from being mere travellers to heroes to be reckoned with. Todd Beamer and the rest were not intending to die, nor did they expect to be heroes. Give a chance to think twice, who knows what they might've done. But they thought once, did what needed to be done, and showed us the spirit of Paul Revere is not lost in the late 1700s, but is awake in this generation. And that the valor of Bunker Hill, the courage of men who did not shoot until they saw the whites of their opponents' eyes... Beamer and company pressed through the odds against their success. Not just Beamer, though he is now the best known of the heroic team. In forcing a plane to crash, they raised the American flag higher into the sky than it had seen in many decades. And, in the case of Beamer, it showed that a man of deep Christian faith was willing to give his life that others may live, an example for all Christians worldwide. The details of the book bring reality to a story too easy to make into a myth. There was a real plane over a real field, and real people hijacked it, and real people were killed in the process. I fully recommend "Among the Heroes: United Flight 93 and the Passengers and Crew Who Fought Back" by Jere Longman. The call, "Let's roll!" will echo through the years, and hopefully never lose its volume. Anthony Trendl editor, HungarianBookstore.com