Let's Roll--For Real

"Let's Roll" became a rallying cry in the wake of the worst attack on America. The phrase, uttered by Todd Beamer, one of the passengers aboard flight 93, before he and other passengers charged the cockpit, was the perfect calling for an angry, wounded nation. "Let's Roll" was a moment of glory during a dark siege. "Let's Roll" was the perfect preamble for what promised to be a long, lonely war against barbarism. "Let's Roll" epitomized Americanism: simple, optimistic --- and, when necessary, defiant.

While there's still an occasional reference--by the lone reporter re-telling the tale of the Pennsylvania plane--the meaning of "Let's Roll", like the memory of the attack that caused it, has been lost. Today, the reality that America was assaulted in the worst act of war in U.S. history is barely acknowledged.

It's certainly not reported by the media. Sept. 12, 2001, newspaper headlines -- "America Under Attack!" "A New Day of Infamy" and "An Act of War" -- were like a momentary outburst that gave way to dazed complacency and an incoherent jumble of anti-war editorials that claim the world is terribly complicated. The post-attack editorial crusade comes long after the media practically expunged pictures of jets striking the Twin Towers from their screens and pages.

The problem goes deeper; Despite the attacks on Washington, DC, and New York, people are debating whether to go to war--with a worldwide sponsor of terrorism the size of Texas. The angry, determined cry that justice must be done--that the enemy must be stopped--has gone silent.

When the President stood with the firefighters in the rubble of what were once the world's tallest skyscrapers--where thousands lost their lives--he vowed that, soon, the whole world would hear America's cry for justice. Over one year later, a decisive blow has yet to be delivered and, while Americans are being instructed on preparing for their doom, our government has yielded its mighty force to a United Nations dominated by the world's dictatorships, past and present: communist China, Russia and Germany. Meanwhile, as the latest intelligence confirms that the enemy seeks America's total destruction, it is way past soon.

Facing another catastrophic assault, Americans are like the passengers of the doomed flight 93; we have seen what our foes have in store, we know it's coming, and we can either evade the truth or act in self-defense. The passengers of flight 93 chose to act.

Knowing the World Trade Center had been destroyed, they came together, they planned their counterstrike, they crashed the cockpit door with a food cart, they broke in and they fought for their lives. In contrast to the recent Euro-mobs and neo-hippies chanting peace in the streets, the heroic men and women of the famous flight 93 chose killing the enemy over doing nothing.

"Let's Roll" marked the beginning of America's retribution against the most barbaric enemy; "Let's Roll" represents a thought --- an idea --- it means: Fight back. We remember the phrase because the passengers chose to practice what they preached.

Those who love America should take up their call, echoed in the final words uttered on the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania, according to reporter Jere Longman in his book, Among the Heroes. Like "Let's Roll" its meaning is an unmistakable affirmation of the moral right to self-defense and there can be no doubt that the speaker's intent is to kill the terrorists. After the flight's passengers had broken into the cockpit, they stood facing the enemy. In what may have been the last recorded words of the final flight used in the worst attack against America, one passenger's lone voice cried out: "Let's Get Them!"

Then there is only the sound of an intense struggle for control of the airplane, which did not reach its target. The passengers of Flight 93 did not just talk about a counterstrike; they fought back. They did not leave it at "Let's Roll." Neither should we.

Scott Holleran is a writer and journalist. His articles have been published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal. Visit his Web site at www.scottholleran.com