“TELL THE BOYS I LOVE THEM”: A MOTHER’S FINAL WORDS BEFORE FLIGHT 93 CRASHED ON 9/11

CeeCee Ross Lyles was only 33 when she boarded United Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001. In her final moments, the former police officer and mother of four left behind words of love that would be remembered for decades.

CeeCee Ross Lyles had spent much of her life protecting others.

Born and raised in Fort Pierce, Florida, she served for six years as a police officer and detective before pursuing another childhood dream — becoming a flight attendant.

By 2001, she was working for United Airlines and had completed her flight-attendant training just months earlier.

On the morning of Sept. 11, she was aboard United Flight 93 when four hijackers took control of the Boeing 757.

What followed would become one of the most extraordinary stories of courage from that day.

And for Lyles’ family, it would forever be remembered through the words she spoke to her husband during the final minutes of her life.

A CALL HOME FROM A HIJACKED PLANE

At 9:48 a.m., Lyles used an Airfone aboard Flight 93 to call her husband, Lorne.

She reached his answering machine.

In the message, she explained that the aircraft had been turned around and that she had learned other planes had been flown into the World Trade Center.

Then she left him with a deeply personal goodbye.

“I hope to be able to see your face again, baby. I love you. Good-bye.”

The message would become one of the many heartbreaking final communications made from Flight 93 that morning.

But that was not her last conversation with her husband.

“TELL THE BOYS I LOVE THEM”

About 10 minutes later, at approximately 9:58 a.m., Lyles called again — this time reaching Lorne directly on her cellphone.

She told him that the plane had been hijacked and that passengers and crew members were attempting to force their way into the cockpit.

According to the National Park Service, Lorne and CeeCee prayed together during the call.

Then she delivered the words he would carry with him forever:

“Tell the boys I love them. We’re getting ready to do it now. It’s happening!”

The message was not simply a goodbye from a wife to her husband.

It was a mother’s final message to her children.

Lyles was the mother of two sons and two stepsons. Her husband later remembered her as a strong, intelligent and caring woman whose faith was an important part of her life.

THE PASSENGERS DECIDED TO FIGHT BACK

By then, passengers and crew members aboard Flight 93 had learned about the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon through phone calls and conversations with people on the ground.

They realized their aircraft was part of a larger terrorist attack.

According to the Flight 93 National Memorial, passengers and crew ultimately made a collective decision to attempt to retake control of the plane.

At 9:57 a.m., they began their assault on the hijackers.

The struggle lasted only minutes.

At 10:03 a.m., Flight 93 crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

There were no survivors.

All 33 passengers, seven crew members and four hijackers aboard the aircraft were killed.

The plane never reached Washington, D.C., where investigators believe the hijackers intended to strike a major government target.

A FORMER POLICE OFFICER REMEMBERED AS A HERO

Before becoming a flight attendant, Lyles had spent six years serving as a police officer and detective in Fort Pierce.

In 2000, she moved to Fort Myers to pursue her dream of working for an airline. She completed her United Airlines flight-attendant training in January 2001 — only months before the attacks.

Her hometown never forgot her.

A life-sized bronze statue of Lyles stands at Liberty Garden in Fort Pierce overlooking the Indian River. The city has held annual memorial services there to honor her and the other victims of Sept. 11.

More than two decades later, her name remains permanently associated with Flight 93 and the people who fought back aboard the aircraft.

A MOTHER’S LAST MESSAGE

There are many stories from Sept. 11 that have endured through photographs, recordings and memorials.

CeeCee Ross Lyles’ story endures through her voice.

Her final calls were made during a moment of unimaginable fear, yet the message she left behind was profoundly simple:

She loved her husband.

She loved her children.

And in the final moments before the passengers and crew made their attempt to regain control of Flight 93, she made sure her family knew it.

“Tell the boys I love them.”

More than 25 years later, those words remain at the heart of her story — a final message from a mother that her family, and the nation, have never forgotten.