By now, everyone knows at least some of the story of United Flight 93. Passengers Todd Beamer, Jeremy Glick, Mark Bingham and Thomas Burnett thwarted the terrorist hijackers who apparently planned to crash the plane into the Capitol building. It crashed into a Pennsylvania field instead, killing all on board, but saving many lives on the ground. Beamer prayed the Lord's Prayer with an operator over a cell phone before yelling "let's roll!" and charging the cockpit. Beamer's widow Lisa received numerous donations and decided to start the Todd M. Beamer Foundation, utilizing the following mission statement:
To equip children experiencing family trauma to make heroic choices every day.
Award-winning producer Tony McAnany (Chant, Point of Grace, P.O.D.), a friend of Beamer, contacted numerous leading artists to contribute to the Let's Roll project in an effort to raise money for the Beamer Foundation. All of them waived their fees and royalties to maximize the contribution to the Foundation. Christian music stalwarts such as DC Talk, Steven Curtis Chapman, Jennifer Knapp and others are joined by Wynonna, Chaka Khan, and Yo Yo Ma on this eclectic project. There's something for everybody, from the hard-driving title cut by DC Talk to the country stylings of Wynonna's Carry On. My favorite is probably 38th Parallel's Horizon, but there are numerous powerful and memorable performances here.
The only negative about the CD was the carelessness in the spelling, with Mark Stuart of Audio Adrenaline becoming Mark Stewart, and even worse, House Majority Whip Tom DeLay being misidentified as Tom Daley--no, he doesn't sing; he joins Congressman (and former Sooner quarterback) J.C. Watts on the spoken word portion of The Lord's Prayer.
Let's Roll is for all fans of music, heroism, and bringing victory out of defeat. Support the Todd M. Beamer Foundation and enjoy some quality inspirational music!
Visit: Let's Roll and the Todd M. Beamer Foundation.