fairlawn: The parents of 9/11 victim Todd Beamer, who died helping to lead a takeover by passengers on United Airlines Flight 93, visited the day school at St. Hilary Catholic Church on Friday morning to thank students for their support.Todd Beamer is known for his last words heard by a phone operator to the other passengers, “Are you guys ready? Let’s roll,” as they prepared to fight with the four terrorists.His parents, Ohio natives David and Peggy Beamer, accepted a check for $600 — a total of $800 trickled in by the end of the day — from the students as part of a fundraising effort for a memorial to the 40 passengers and crew who fought back that day. Phase 1 of the National Park Service’s Flight 93 National Memorial in Stonycreek Township in Shanksville, Pa., will be unveiled today.“Wow, young people, this is terrific. I want to thank you along with Peggy for remembering what happened that day nearly 10 years ago and for your support of the national memorial project. This is just super. You know, someday, you’re going to be able to go there, believe it or not, maybe with your grandchildren and you’ll be able to say ‘hey, you know what, we helped make this memorial a reality.’ We just want to thank all of you very, very much for remembering and for taking action.”David Beamer, who grew up in the town of Salem, and his wife, Peggy, who is an Alliance native, visited the Fairlawn school and participated in the televised morning announcements commemorating the 10-year anniversary of 9/11.David Beamer sported a Todd Beamer Titans jacket, a gift from Todd Beamer High School in Federal Way, Wash., named after his son.Beamer gave thanks to Sharon Deitrick of Akron, president of Deitrick and Associates, an interior design firm, who has been instrumental in leading the quest to complete the memorial project in honor of those killed on that flight.She heads the HALO Foundation, Hope Always Lives On.“Sharon Dietrick has not only taken an interest in the Flight 93 Memorial Project being completed but for young kids to understand what happened that day and to include them in the project with a campaign called 93 cents for Flight 93 because young people can earn 93 cents,” Beamer said. “She has helped children understand the messages of hope and courage, because there were 40 free people on that airplane who had the opportunity to fight back against our enemy that day. It became really the first counterattack in our homeland in this war and it ended in a victory, but they died.”It’s uplifting and encouraging to see young people involved in the project,” he said.Todd Beamer was the only son of David and Peggy Beamer. “We miss our son, Todd, every day. There is a hole in the Beamer family, but we are people of faith. We are Christians and our faith in God Almighty will give us strength and encouragement, comfort and contentment, because we know the end of the story. Todd Beamer was a Christian on Sept. 10 and that’s really the most important thing, so we know he’s OK, so that’s how we’ve been able to carry on and look to the future. There’s going to be this Beamer reunion in heaven one day.”Todd Beamer, 32, resided in Cranbury, N.J. He was an account manager for the Oracle Corporation. He was on Flight 93 on a business trip and had planned to return to New Jersey that evening. “He was a great guy, a wonderful son, a good little brother, big brother, a great husband and father [he had three children now 13, 11 and 9. His wife, Lisa, was five months pregnant when he died]. He was fun to be around,” David Beamer said. “He was a competitor. He played baseball all the way through college. He knew about winning and losing and hard work.”The hijacked plane, which was en route from Trenton, N.J., to San Francisco, crashed in western Pennsylvania after the passengers fought back, preventing the jet from slamming into possible targets including the White House or U.S. Capitol.“Todd and these 39 other people on the plane that day exhibited courage and initiative and did their very best and did a good thing,” David Beamer said. “They were able to understand the reality of their situation and formulate this plan of counterattack and successfully execute it. And the counterattack was a victory. They did all of this in 30 minutes, so I’m delighted that the Flight 93 National Memorial will have Phase 1 completed by the 10th anniversary. It saddens me just a bit that the whole project isn’t complete, given what these 40 people did in only 30 minutes. But I’m delighted Phase 1 is done and looking forward to Phase 2 being done.”He said his family appreciated the work of the thousands of people helping to complete the project.David and Peggy Beamer made an impression on the students, as well.Ellie Durkin, 14, of the student council said: “I was honored and really shocked that they would come to St. Hilary’s because it’s not like a big school, but really excited.” “It was a privilege to meet the parents of a hero of America,” said Sam Parri, 14, who is part of the morning announcements team. “Todd Beamer helped save America.”David Beamer told the students that his son’s words, ‘‘Let’s roll,’’ has become a catchy phrase. “Make that your call to action and just do the right thing, whatever it is,” David Beamer said. “It might not be a big thing, it could be a small thing, but we all have choices to make, every day. Let’s roll and do the right thing.”Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.