Tom Burnett
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thomas Edward Burnett (May 29, 1963 – September 11, 2001), was the vice president and COO of a Pleasanton, California, medical devices company, Thoratec Corporation.[1] He graduated from Thomas Jefferson Senior High School in Bloomington, Minnesota in 1981 after leading the football team to the state semi-finals as their starting quarterback.[1] His football jersey, #10, is now retired at his former high school.
Burnett studied economics at St. John's University in Minnesota. After two years, an injury shortened his football career and he transferred to the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.[1] He was named President of the Alpha Kappa Psi Fraternity, then later graduated with a B.S. degree in Finance. He went on to earn a MBA at Pepperdine University.[1]
He died at age thirty eight in the September 11, 2001 attacks on board United Airlines flight 93. He was able to call his wife four times on his cell phone after the hijackers took control of the plane.
Tom and other passengers had been in communication with people via cellphones and learned that the World Trade Center had been hit using hijacked airplanes. Tom was among the passengers who decided to fight the hijackers hand-to-hand.
Tom called his wife, Deena, and reportedly told her, "We're all going to die, but three of us are going to do something" and added: "I love you, honey" before the call ended. He is survived by his wife and three young daughters.
Tom also had a daughter, Mariah Mills, who was given up for adoption at birth. Ms. Mills learned about her birth father in 2004 after she turned 19, the legal age in Minnesota for requesting a birth certificate with the names of birth parents.
Tom's widow Deena co-authored a book with Anthony Giombetti entitled "Fighting Back: Living Life Beyond Ourselves." The book is published by Advantage Inspirational and was released in July 2006. In Fighting Back, Deena tells Tom's story as a series of defining moments and goes on to tell how she fought back to find purpose and joy in her life again after pressuring the FBI to release the cockpit voice recorder was to victims families. Deena uses the actions of the passengers of Flight 93 and her own life as examples to re-define our concept of heroism and demonstrate the power of everyday heroes who do the right thing at the right time, no matter how big or small.
Deena was remarried in the summer of 2006 to Rodney Bailey. Together they make their home in Little Rock, AK, with her daughters -- Halley, Madison, and Anna Clare -- and Rodney's son, Tanner.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Donovan, Lisa. "'He is a hero', Minnesota Native's Family Says; Victim Believed to Have Helped Keep Hijacked Jet from Hitting Target", Saint Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota), September 13, 2001.
