She Refused the Money. She Wanted the Truth.
On September 11, 2001, Beverly Eckert was on the phone with her husband as smoke filled the South Tower. He told her he loved her… then the line went silent. Sean Rooney never made it home.

Offered compensation through the Victim Fund, she refused. Accepting meant giving up the right to demand answers. She didn’t want a check — she wanted accountability.
Her grief became courage. She fought for transparency and helped push for the 9/11 Commission.
In 2009, after meeting the President, she boarded another plane. It crashed.

She lost her husband to one tragedy — and her life to another.
Her name endures not for fame, but because she refused to let silence win.