“TELL THE BOYS I LOVE THEM”: THE FINAL WORDS OF A MOTHER ABOARD FLIGHT 93

CeeCee Ross Lyles was only 33 when she boarded United Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. A mother, wife, former police officer and newly trained flight attendant, she never imagined that her final moments would become part of one of the defining stories of American history.

A MOTHER WHO NEVER MADE IT HOME

CeeCee Ross Lyles was from Fort Pierce, Florida, where she had spent six years working as a police officer and detective before beginning a new career with United Airlines.

She completed her flight attendant training in January 2001 and was enjoying the opportunity to travel while spending time with her family between flights.

She was a mother of two sons and two stepsons, according to the National Park Service.

On the morning of September 11, she was working aboard United Flight 93 when the aircraft was hijacked.

What followed would become one of the most heartbreaking chapters of that day.

“PLEASE TELL MY CHILDREN THAT I LOVE THEM”

As the hijacking unfolded, Lyles managed to contact her husband, Lorne.

At approximately 9:47 a.m., she left a message on the family’s answering machine.

She told him that the plane had been hijacked and that she was trying to remain calm.

But amid the fear and uncertainty, her thoughts turned to her children.

“Please tell my children that I love them very much,” she said.

She also told her husband that she hoped she would be able to see him again.

She never would.

The National Park Service preserves the account of that call as part of the official historical record of Flight 93.

HER FINAL CALL CAME MINUTES BEFORE THE CRASH

About 10 minutes later, at roughly 9:58 a.m., Lyles called her husband again.

This time, they spoke directly.

According to the National Park Service, she told Lorne that passengers and crew members were attempting to regain control of the cockpit.

The couple prayed together.

Her husband later recalled the final words she shared with him:

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

Those words have endured for 25 years — a final message from a mother to the children she knew she might never see again.

THE PASSENGERS DECIDED TO FIGHT BACK

By then, passengers and crew members aboard Flight 93 had learned that other hijacked aircraft had been used in the attacks on New York and the Pentagon.

They realized their own plane could be headed toward another target.

According to the National Park Service, 13 people aboard Flight 93 made a total of 37 phone calls between the hijacking and the crash.

Those calls helped reveal what was happening inside the aircraft and contributed to the passengers’ decision to act.

The cockpit voice recorder captured the struggle as passengers and crew attempted to break into the cockpit.

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

All 40 passengers and crew members aboard were lost.

But Flight 93 never reached the hijackers’ intended target.

The National Park Service says the actions of the passengers and crew thwarted the terrorists’ plan.

25 YEARS LATER, HER FAMILY STILL REMEMBERS

On September 11, 2026, families gathered at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville for the 25th anniversary of the attacks.

Lyles’ family was among those remembering the woman whose final words were directed not toward history, but toward her children.

Her husband, Lorne, continues to speak about the woman he lost.

“She was such a beautiful woman,” he said while reflecting on the anniversary.

In Fort Pierce, a statue honoring CeeCee stands as another reminder of her life and sacrifice.

And at the Flight 93 National Memorial, her name is permanently engraved alongside the names of the other 39 passengers and crew members who never returned home.

A FINAL MESSAGE OF LOVE

CeeCee Ross Lyles is remembered as many things — a police officer, detective, flight attendant, wife and hero.

But in the final moments preserved in the historical record, she was simply a mother thinking about her children.

Her last known message was not about herself.

It was about love.

“Tell the boys I love them.”

Twenty-five years later, those words remain one of the most deeply personal memories of Flight 93 — a reminder that behind the history of September 11 were individual lives, families and people who were thinking of the ones they loved until the very end. 🕊️