What does it say about Americans today that when al Qaeda jihadis took over a plane in 2001, passenger Todd Beamer organized a counterattack begun with his command "Let's roll," but in 2017, passengers sat in their seats and filmed a police attack on an innocent passenger who was dragged off the plane?
In our history, the passengers of United Flight 93 prevented the plane from being used in a terror strike although it failed to save the passengers.
What if the passengers of United Flight 3411 had gotten out of their seats and simply sat in the aisle between the passenger selected for assault and the front exit?
I'd like to think that if the passengers in 2001 had the phones of 2017 we wouldn't simply have a lot of videos of the plane ramming the Capitol Building and the memorable line "Let's film."
Let's hope that terrorists don't think American airline passengers are again an easy target.
About Me
- Brian J. Dunn
- I live and write in Ann Arbor, Michigan. University of Michigan AB and MA from Eastern Michigan University. One term in the Michigan Army National Guard. Former American history instructor and retired nonpartisan research analyst. I write on Blogger and Substack. Various military and private journals have published my occasional articles on military subjects. See "My Published Works" on the TDR web version or under the mobile version drop-down menu for citations and links.
