In His Phone Call from Flight 93 on 9/11, Todd Beamer Refused the Chance to Speak to His Wife

Todd Beamer, a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, declined a phone operator's offer to put him through to his wife when he made a call from the hijacked plane, even though he was concerned that he might not survive the ordeal and so this might be his last chance to speak to her. Lisa Jefferson, a customer service supervisor, describes the conversation she had with Beamer when he reached GTE Airfone's Chicago call center that morning. She says they talked about Beamer's family and he asked her, "If he didn't make it, would I call his family and let them know how much he loved them?" She had offered to put the call through to his wife, so he could speak to her in person. "I was praying and hoping that he would let me put his call through so he can tell her and talk to her," she recalls. However, "He said no." His reason was that "he didn't want to upset [his wife] because they were expecting their third child in January." This is an excerpt from an episode of the Jho Roni Show, a Christian variety talk show. The date of the interview is unclear. However, the episode was posted on TH-cam on February 24, 2014.