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Minnesota woman learns dad was 9/11 hero (United 93)
AP/Yahoo ^ | 10 Sep 06 | NO BYLINE

Posted on 09/10/2006 3:16:16 PM PDT by Mr. Silverback

While searching for her birth parents two years ago, Mariah Mills found more than she bargained for: A hero of Sept. 11, 2001.

Mills' biological father, who had given Mills up for adoption when he and his then-girlfriend were in college, was Tom Burnett, a leader of a group that fought back on United Flight 93 before it crashed in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001.

Mills, 21, learned about her birth father in 2004 — after she turned 19, the legal age in Minnesota for requesting a birth certificate with names of birth parents — and subsequent DNA tests confirmed that Burnett was her father.

"Before I was even born, my birth dad made a brave decision — to give me a life," Mills told the St. Paul Pioneer Press in Sunday's editions. "It was a selfless act, just like his actions on Flight 93. And, as awful as it was that he died, and I never got to know him, there is good that came out of this."

Today, Mills has developed a relationship with Burnett's widow, Deena, her three daughters, husband and stepson, and other members of Burnett's family. She also celebrated her birthday with her birth mother, who lives in St. Paul with her husband and two children and asked not to be identified.

Mills transferred to the University of Minnesota and is entering her senior year. She will spend her first semester studying abroad. Her dream job, she said, would be writing about baseball and covering the Minnesota Twins.

Mills and her adoptive parents visited Jefferson High School in Bloomington during the spring of 2004 after Mariah found out about her birth parents. Mariah wanted to look up Tom Burnett in his senior yearbook. She found his photo and one of her birth mother, too.

"It was weird to finally look like somebody," Mills said. "I have her eyes, but mostly I look like a Burnett."

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TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: California; US: Minnesota; US: Pennsylvania; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: adoption; flight93; tomburnett; united93
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To: Mr. Silverback

The real heroes are the folks who adopted her.


21 posted on 09/10/2006 3:56:11 PM PDT by gaijin
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To: onyx
WOW WOW WOW .... God Bless Tom Burnett .. for So many things he did with courage and faith. My answer to your question:

not worth your precious breath ..

22 posted on 09/10/2006 3:57:06 PM PDT by STARWISE (They (Rats) think of this WOT as Bush's war, not America's war-RichardMiniter, respected OBL author)
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To: Mr. Silverback

I'm tellin I'm tellin! :-)


23 posted on 09/10/2006 3:57:19 PM PDT by Valin (http://www.irey.com/)
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To: STARWISE

Perish the thought, huh?

I still might do it. He needs to realize the GOOD in this everyday Catholic man, who was called upon to act extraordinarily heroic and he answered that call.


24 posted on 09/10/2006 4:02:54 PM PDT by onyx (1 Billion Muslims -- IF only 10% are radical, that's still 100 Million who want to kill us.)
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To: Mr. Silverback; All

.

9/11 Lifesaver RICK RESCORLA =

'The Man Who Predicted 9/11'


The History Channel

10 am & 4 pm

Monday, September 11, 2006

http://www.RickRescorla.com

http://www.ArmchairGeneral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24361


*Where RICK RESCORLA walked in Vietnam, exactly, 40 years ago:

http://www.lzxray.com/guyer_set1.htm
*1st Picture



NEVER FORGET


.


25 posted on 09/10/2006 4:09:32 PM PDT by ALOHA RONNIE ("ALOHA RONNIE" Guyer/Veteran-"WE WERE SOLDIERS" Battle of IA DRANG-1965 http://www.lzxray.com)
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To: Mr. Silverback

Did I read that right? Did Tom Burnett's widow, Deena get remarried? and now she also has a stepson? You never get to read about how the families have moved on, which is a good thing. Life does go on.


26 posted on 09/10/2006 4:17:07 PM PDT by queenkathy (Grandchildren are God's reward for not killing your kids.)
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To: Yaelle

I think they just use the terms birth parents and adoptive parents so readers can keep track of who is what. I have no problem with it from a technical standpoint. But you raise good points.


27 posted on 09/10/2006 4:19:41 PM PDT by plain talk
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To: originalbuckeye
1. Last time I checked, the heroic Mr. Burnett is dead. Privacy does not extend past death, check any law textbook for that one.

2. I suppose it could be argued in some way that revelation of Tom's sexual history is somehow Deena's private affair now, but I doubt such a claim would hold up in court, and she's not asserting such a claim.

3. Do you really think any less of Burnett because of this story? If not, who cares who knows?

4. Didya notice that the birth mother is not indentified for privacy reasons? Looks like everybody who wanted privacy got it.

28 posted on 09/10/2006 4:24:03 PM PDT by Mr. Silverback (We didn’t lose 3,000 people that day. We lost one wonderful person at a time, 3,000 times.)
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To: onyx

Some Freeper was dissing this guy? Do tell.

(You don't have to name names if you do not wish to ping him/her.)


29 posted on 09/10/2006 4:25:35 PM PDT by stands2reason (ANAGRAM for the day: Socialist twaddle == Tact is disallowed)
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To: gaijin

No, Tom burnett is a real hero. He gave this child a real chance at a good life when he could have insisted on an abortion, or just walked away. More importantly, on September 11th he gave his life to save an unknown number of others on the ground. Are her adopted parents heroic? Yep. But that doesn't take anything away from Burnett.


30 posted on 09/10/2006 4:26:28 PM PDT by Mr. Silverback (We didn’t lose 3,000 people that day. We lost one wonderful person at a time, 3,000 times.)
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To: Valin

Mom always did like you best!


31 posted on 09/10/2006 4:26:52 PM PDT by Mr. Silverback (We didn’t lose 3,000 people that day. We lost one wonderful person at a time, 3,000 times.)
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To: stands2reason

Sort of. Just refused to call him a hero and was worried that his wife's book would be used to make "gullible" Catholics support the WOT.

This poster was not just out to lunch, he didn't even bring a brown bag.


32 posted on 09/10/2006 4:29:38 PM PDT by onyx (1 Billion Muslims -- IF only 10% are radical, that's still 100 Million who want to kill us.)
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To: Mr. Silverback

I wasn't talking legally I was talking morally. I'm glad he and his girlfriend chose life for their daughter back then. Can you be assured that he would want this story told? He's gone so nobody could have asked him.....maybe not everybody who wanted privacy got it. I don't think less of him at all. The whole story just makes me sad.


33 posted on 09/10/2006 4:30:14 PM PDT by originalbuckeye
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To: queenkathy

That's how it sounds, huh. It has an ending that is uplifting. Good for her.


34 posted on 09/10/2006 4:32:18 PM PDT by originalbuckeye
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To: originalbuckeye

You must spend a lot of time feeling sad if that's what you get from what to everyone else is an uplifting story.


35 posted on 09/10/2006 4:34:59 PM PDT by stands2reason (ANAGRAM for the day: Socialist twaddle == Tact is disallowed)
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To: stands2reason
I don't spend a lot of time feeling sad. National disclosures of a dead hero's personal life is just unseemly. How would you feel?
36 posted on 09/10/2006 4:40:35 PM PDT by originalbuckeye
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To: originalbuckeye

How do you get sad from this story? If I were the adoptive girl, I would be so proud to find out he was my dad. It shows us how much Tom Burnett valued life, an unborn baby's life when he was young, and untold lives that would have been lost if flight 93 would have hit its intended target. I think it would also be inspiration to live my life the way my dad did and to really strive to accomplish great things.


37 posted on 09/10/2006 4:47:53 PM PDT by WV Mountain Mama (Thank you Andre!! RIP Steve, your legacy will live on, prayers for Terri, Bindi and Bob.)
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To: queenkathy
Did I read that right? Did Tom Burnett's widow, Deena get remarried?

Yes, I seem to recall Lisa Beamer did too.

I remember one firefighter left behind ten kids, all minors. I hope his wife has found a guy who wouldn't be scared away by the number of kids, but would realize how much love there must be in that house.

38 posted on 09/10/2006 4:50:13 PM PDT by Mr. Silverback (We didn’t lose 3,000 people that day. We lost one wonderful person at a time, 3,000 times.)
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To: originalbuckeye

As I would be dead, I would have more important things to deal with.


39 posted on 09/10/2006 4:52:54 PM PDT by stands2reason (ANAGRAM for the day: Socialist twaddle == Tact is disallowed)
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To: onyx; stands2reason
Just refused to call him a hero

If Burnett was not a hero (and he was) then he was my friend. Jesus said so:

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."--John 15:13

40 posted on 09/10/2006 4:53:19 PM PDT by Mr. Silverback (We didn’t lose 3,000 people that day. We lost one wonderful person at a time, 3,000 times.)
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