´ķĪķAPP

Contact: Mary Pollitz

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Though he was born years after September 11, 2001, Mississippi ´ķĪķAPP sophomore Bradyn Long carries a deep connection to that date’s national tragedy, shaped by more than a dozen childhood visits to a quiet field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

The MSU aerospace engineering major, a 2026 recipient of the Flight 93 LeRoy Homer Jr. Flight Scholarship, is turning his personal history into a lifelong calling, with the road bringing him through Mississippi ´ķĪķAPP. Learning of the national scholarship while an MSU freshman, Long quickly applied when he realized the funds could help him combine his desire to be not only an engineer, but a pilot like Flight 93 hero and First Officer LeRoy Homer Jr.

“When they told me they had chosen me, I really didn’t have words,” Long said. “There’s obviously the motivation to learn to fly, but on top of that, I want to honor LeRoy’s legacy. I want to be part of the reason his name will never be forgotten.”

Before moving to the Blue Springs area in Union County, Long’s family grew roots in Pennsylvania and Illinois. Even though he didn’t initially think of going to college in Mississippi, MSU quickly stood out once he began comparing aerospace programs.

“I’ve got a heart for it now and the South in general has been a big blessing in my life,” Long said.

One of those blessings, he said, is being able to pursue aerospace engineering and being in a position to take flight lessons in Tupelo, just an hour away.

The LeRoy W. Homer Jr. Foundation usually provides two full scholarships each year for students to earn their pilot’s license in six months. For the 25th anniversary, the foundation doubled its reach, selecting four recipients, including Long. This year’s cohort brings the foundation’s total to 40 scholars, one honoring each passenger and crew member who died in United Airlines Flight 93.

Growing up, Long’s family regularly visited his grandparents in Shanksville, just miles from where the hijacked Boeing 757 crashed 25 years ago. His grandmother has served as a volunteer ambassador at the Flight 93 National Memorial there since its inception, greeting visitors from around the globe and ensuring the story is told, repeated and remembered.

“From a very young age, she exposed my sister and me to what the memorial means,” Long said, recalling listening to the recorded phone calls of passengers leaving final messages to loved ones. “It puts into perspective that these were real people with real families. They sacrificed all of that to save the lives of people they’d never even met.”

Once he set his sights on the Department of Aerospace Engineering in MSU’s Bagley College of Engineering, he said it’s been the university’s people that make it so worthwhile.

“I’ve met some amazing people that I never anticipated meeting,” Long said. “The friends I’ve got here now, I never would have made if I never came here. It’s definitely been a journey that I’m glad I took.”

His ultimate goal is to work as an aerospace engineer while self-funding his commercial pilot ratings, bridging what he said is a long-standing industry gap.

“There’s sometimes a disconnect between a pilot in the cockpit and an engineer at the drawing board,” Long said. “I want to help bridge that gap by seeing both sides.”

Long, who completed his first solo flight on July 4, receives his flight lessons in a Cessna 172 and hopes to earn his license in October. Last month, he achieved another major milestone: his first solo city-to-city flight, flying from Tupelo to Starkville.

“Getting to fly over campus was really surreal,” he said. “Looking out the window and seeing Davis Wade, Dudy Noble and the Drill Field, it puts into perspective how big the sky is. Freedom of flight is something not enough people get to experience. People always say the sky is the limit, but once you’re in an airplane, you realize the sky isn’t the limit. There’s always something more.”

Long will be in Shanksville on September 11 to attend the 25th anniversary memorial service, where he will represent the foundation and meet Homer’s wife.

“I’m excited about meeting Melodie,” Long said. “She’s one of the reasons this foundation was put together. She took something that the world sees as a disaster and turned it into something that can impact youth for the rest of their lives.

“This will always be a part of me now,” Long said. “I’m part of the foundation’s family now. It’s just very inspirational.”

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