[fnord]

I tear up every time I hear this story. Such love and heroism is hard for me to fathom. These heroes certainly deserve the civlian Medal of Freedom. I would go along with bending the rules to give them the Medal of Honor too! (After all we were at war when the first tower was hit.)

I thought an entirely separate but meaningful addendum would be to present to the next-of-kin of each passenger ... a US flag that was flying on Tuesday in our nation's capital. Who knows where the plane would have hit. Give them the flags from the White House, State Department, Congress, etc. Have senior administration officials visit the NOK and present the flag with a personal note from the President. Might not seem like much, but the families might treasure the flags.

[GretchenEE]

One of the widows said her husband told her, "We took a vote ... three of us are going to take them out," or similar wording. The way I read that, all the passengers took a vote on whether they would: (1) try to save themselves somehow by not interfering with the hijackers or (2) try to save the ground target by letting several volunteers among them take out the hijackers.

This is excellent news, if I am understanding it rightly, on more than one front. First, it rules out lawsuits for wrongful death for the surviving family members. Second, it provides a pattern for any passengers in future situations. Third, their votes make every passenger on that flight eligible for the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in my opinion.