By Sasha Ryu
On Sept. 11, 2001, 19 members of al-Qaeda hijacked four U.S. commercial airliners, but only three of the planes reached their intended targets. The fourth, believed to have been headed for the U.S. Capitol or the White House, crashed instead in a field in rural Pennsylvania after a group of passengers aboard the flight rushed the cockpit and fought back against the attackers.
Two of the four passengers who led that effort were Los Gatos High School alumni Mark Bingham and Todd Beamer. “Are you guys ready?” Beamer asked before he and his former classmate confronted their attackers, in his now-famous last words, adding, “Let’s roll.”
This year—on the 25th anniversary of the attacks—Los Gatos residents and visitors gathered to honor Beamer, Bingham and the others who lost their lives on Sept. 11 at the “Keepers of the Flame” ceremony, organized by the Veterans Memorial and Support Foundation of Los Gatos.
The ceremony began at 9:30am at the Flame of Liberty Memorial. Santa Clara County Assistant Fire Chief Art Tomassetti, an Army veteran of Operation Desert Storm, spoke first, urging the crowd to shift from “never forget” to “always remember.”
“It’s an active practice, an effort to translate grief into resolve,” Tomassetti said. “It means being kind, helpful and engaged—showing up for your neighbors and standing tall for your community in times of uncertainty.”
Mayor Rob Moore spoke next, noting that most young people today, including himself, have no living memory of the attacks.
“The responsibility of teaching now falls to us to close the gap between history and memory, and to make sure that distance from that day never becomes distance from what it demands of us,” Moore said. “That is why we gather here, instead of leaving 9/11 to a paragraph in a textbook, so that the next generation understands its gravity, and learns to love this country enough to stand up for it.”
Santa Clara County Fire Battalion Chief Matt James attended Los Gatos High School with both Beamer and Bingham and played on the basketball team alongside Beamer. James, who’s been a firefighter for the past 22 years, reflected on their legacy.
“I think it’s important to remember them. In a lot of ways, it seems like it was a lifetime ago, 25 years — it’s a long time,” James said. “I’m glad that we’re still coming together to remember, hopefully never forget, bring everybody together.”
The keynote speaker was retired FDNY Lt. Joe Torillo, who survived being buried alive twice on Sept. 11. Despite battling Parkinson’s disease and surviving a recent heart attack, Torillo said he felt obligated to attend.
“I’m never in New York on 9/11,” Torillo said. “I always personalize other people’s ceremonies who care enough to keep the memory alive. It’s an obligation I have to people. All they did for us in the rescue (and) recovery effort.”
George Hall, a founding member of the Los Gatos Veterans Memorial and Support Foundation, spent six years helping bring the Flame of Liberty Memorial to the town, inspired partly by his son’s service as an Army Ranger.
Hall said Torillo’s address left a lasting impression on the crowd.
“This was a pretty special event, you know,” Hall said. “Especially that one fellow who gave that unbelievable account. To think that he actually survived goes to show what God can do for you.”
The ceremony closed with a flower-laying at the memorial, 40 tolls of a bell for the passengers and crew of Flight 93, a moment of silence, a performance of “God Bless America” and a dove release — ending with the phrase “always remember.”
Two F-15C Eagle fighter jets from the 144th Fighter Wing at Fresno Air National Guard Base were scheduled to fly over Helm Field at 6:55pm in honor of Bingham and Beamer, at the start of the Los Gatos High School football game against Clovis High School.
