Today is a very good day to remember and embrace the memory, spirit and example of Todd Beamer.

Sixteen years ago today, Beamer was aboard the hijacked and doomed United Airlines Flight 93, on a flight from Newark to San Francisco.

Beamer’s last words, “Let’s roll,” were heard over a cell phone line by a GTE operator in Chicago. They became the war cry of resistance against the Islamic terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

It is widely understood that the hijackers intended to crash United 93 into the U.S. Capitol if it had not been for the heroic plan of Beamer and a few other passengers to to take back the Boeing 757 from its Al-Qaeda assailants. Because of their resistance, the plane crashed and burned in a remote field in Shanksville, Somerset County, Pa., about 75 miles southeast of Butler. All 44 people aboard died, including four terrorists.

The resistance continues. Vestiges and transmutations of Al-Qaeda persist in distant places. It’s our vigilance and continued will to fight back — our collective Todd Beamer spirit — that keeps the enemy pinned there, unable to venture again to our shores.

Out of 9/11 was conceived the federal Department of Homeland Security. Its first director: our own 3rd Congressional District congressman and former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge. The agendy’s mission statement: “With honor and integrity, we will safeguard the American people, our homeland, and our values.”

Today, Homeland Security faces another gargantuan challenge. Today, the second devastating hurricane in as many weeks exhausts itself after tearing a great wound of destruction and sorrow across our land. The people of Puerto Rico, Florida and Georgia are emerging to find their lives and communities crushed by Hurricane Irma, just as those in coastal Texas emerged Sept. 1 from Hurricane Harvey.

The damage from two major hurricanes is hard to comprehend. Reconstruction costs will be in the hundreds of billions, maybe the trillions.

The immediate suffering alone will be intense. Texas and Florida in September are hot, humid regions. Add flood water and remove electricity/refrigeration, and there will be outbreaks of disease and decay. The cleanup will take years.

Homeland Security will face criticism. So will its umbrella organizations, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Small Business Administration and others. People will be frustrated. Frustration breeds anger. This is inevitable.

Let’s keep all this in mind as we invoke a Todd Beamer spirit to guide our recovery from these twin furies. Together, we are greater than the damage that has visited our shores. We will overcome adversity. We always have.

Are you guys ready? OK. Let’s roll.