9/11 Widow Killed in NY Plane Crash

That was the headline of a story that sadly went unnoticed by the mainstream media. I found the story on CBN.com, the web site of the 700 Club.

One of the victims of Continental Flight 3407, Beverly Eckert, was a Sept. 11 widow who put her never-ending grief to good use to make the country safer. She was flying to her hometown to celebrate her late husband's birthday when the plane crashed on approach to the Buffalo airport.

In the story, she tells how she was on the phone with her husband, Sean as he called her from the World Trade Center and he had just told her he loved her, when she heard an explosion followed by silence. He was torn from her life in an instant yet something made her want to help others at a time when most of us would have collapsed from grief.

She became part of a small group of Sept. 11 widows, mothers, and children who became amateur lobbyists, ultimately forcing lawmakers in 2004 to pass sweeping reforms of the U.S. Intelligence apparatus. After the 2001 attacks, she co-chaired the 9/11 Family Steering Committee, a group of activists devoted to exposing government failures that led up to the 2001 attacks, and fixing them. She pushed for a 9/11 Commission. She pushed the Bush administration to provide more information to the commission. And when the commission's work was over, she pushed Congress to adopt their recommendations.

The article went on to say:

They spent months walking the halls of Congress. All of the women were grieving, but Eckert seemed unable or uninterested in holding back her tears.

When it was over and they'd won passage of the intelligence reform law, Eckert vowed to quit her high-profile role "cold turkey." All she wanted, she said, was to go home, buy groceries, and return to something like a regular life.

"I did all of this for Sean's memory, I did it for him," she said, crying again. "There is a euphoria in knowing that we reached the top of the hill.. I just wanted Sean to come home from work. Maybe now, someone else's Sean will get to come home."

I have fought a good fight, I have finished [my] course, I have kept the faith:
2 Timothy 4:7

The reason I’m writing about her story instead of including it in the news stories is simply that she amazed and inspired me.

In the ‘80’s, I became an activist for Agent Orange research and subsequent veterans compensation. I learned, firsthand, just how hard it is to kick down doors for the tiniest bit of help or information. I didn’t have to do that work with such grief weighing me down.

About a week before flight 3407 went down, she was at the White House with Barack Obama, as part of a meeting the president had with relatives of those killed in the 2001 attacks and the bombing of the USS Cole to discuss how the new administration would handle terror suspects. Upon hearing of the crash, a friend was quoted:

"I'm in shock, I just can't believe it," said Carie Lemack, whose mother died Sept. 11 on one of the hijacked planes. "Beverly had a can-do attitude about everything, and she never gave up."

I look at her picture and I can sense her loss. The “Can do” attitude may have been part of her nature but I suspect that butting heads with politicians increased that fighting spirit tenfold.

I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
John 17:4

Grief is a very powerful emotion. Most of the time it can destroy a person but when God intervenes, the power of that emotion can make someone rise up and become a force to be reckoned with.

With Beverly Eckert, there were no liberals or conservatives; there were people with the tools to get something done and they were just wasting time. They made her jump through hoops and play silly Capitol Hill games but she grabbed them by their stuffed shirts and showed them that “the little guy” can still pack a punch. She did it with tears running down her face but was held up by love.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Matthew 5:16

She had a true and powerful love for her husband and God’s love for a widow cleared the way for her to walk through that scorpions nest called Washington, D.C. unscathed. Her can do attitude was a gift from God and her efforts will be continued by those she left behind and inspired. Look out Congress, her friends are regrouping and will return, refreshed and inspired.

Psalm 23

4. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. 5. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows. 6. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.