Remembering Minnesota's Thomas Burnett On Sept. 11

Thomas Burnett, who grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota, and attended Thomas Jefferson Senior High School, died while aboard United Airlines Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001.

Burnett is one of the nearly 3,000 people who were killed in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. But Burnett is also credited with helping to save thousands of lives during his final hours.

Burnett led the effort to divert Flight 93 away from its intended target. It is believed that hijackers intended to crash the plane into the White House or U.S. Capitol building.

Burnett's widow, Deena Burnett Bailey , wrote a book about Burnett's story.

The transcript of his four calls from that flight are available on the Burnett Foundation website:

• Deena: Hello
• Tom: Deena
• Deena: Tom, are you OK?
• Tom: No, I’m not. I’m on an airplane that has been hijacked.
• Deena: Hijacked?
• Tom: Yes, They just knifed a guy.
• Deena: A passenger?
• Tom: Yes.
• Deena: Where are you? Are you in the air?
• Tom: Yes, yes, just listen. Our airplane has been hijacked. It’s United Flight 93 from Newark to San Francisco. We are in the air. The hijackers have already knifed a guy, one of them has a gun, they are telling us there is a bomb on board, please call the authorities.

Deena called 911. Within minutes, firefighters and police showed up. The FBI arrived soon after. So did neighbors, who sat with Deena during the next hour for Burnett's next few calls.

Deena begged him to stay put and not call attention to himself. But Burnett already hatched a plan with a few other passengers to overtake the hijackers.

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"Tom, they are hijacking planes all up and down the east coast," Deena told her husband.

"They are taking them and hitting designated targets. They’ve already hit both towers of the World Trade Center."

"They’re talking about crashing this plane," Burnett said to the passengers around him. "Oh my God. It’s a suicide mission…"

Burnett spent a few more minutes over a couple more calls asking for more details about the attacks. Then he asked about Deena and the kids and said a final "I love you."

Then, he reassured her, "Don't worry, we're going to do something" and hung up.

Friends describe Burnett as all-American, a patriot, a student of military and early U.S. history. He admired the Founding Fathers. After graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1985 and landing a job, he decorated his office with busts of Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln.

He was the starting quarterback for the Thomas Jefferson football team, which retired his #10 jersey after he died. The school presents a scholarship to one of the students each year in his name, and considers him a national hero.

He aspired to be a good citizen, professional and family man.

Jennifer Wadsworth contributed to this story.

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