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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No, but I can be assured that this is how Western civilization has dealt with this moral issue for thousands of years. More importantly, I can be assured Deena Burnett--who I'd venture knew him a whole lot better than either of us!--thought this honored his memory. If not, this story would not have been told.
PS-A good friend of mine knew him through the medical community. He was a terrific person. I know Mr. Burnett is at peace with all his actions on this earth.
Thank you!
I'm sure Mr.Burnett wasn't ashamed or embarrassed. It's just that national recognition of a situation is different. That's all I meant.
De nada!
My wife was adopted. While she wonders why she was given up, she has never obsessed about it. She was born before abortion became legal, but is grateful that she had a chance at life, and I am thankful thet she lived to be my wife.
Anyone who was given up for adoption in this age of abortion should certainly be thankful they were brought up by adoptive parents, rather than ending up in a dumpster.
IIRC, she remarried "recently" and is living happily in Little Rock, Arkansas.Anyone else read that?
God bless her and her family.
SoS
Nah, forget him. This is developing into a fascinating story. No need to muck it up.
Good point. I have trouble with these adoptees searching for their birth parents. Most people never expected years ago that they would be tracked down. I don't like it at all. Otherwise, it's a lovely story. Mr Burnett was a hero. This story changes nothing.
In his bible, you would have had to replace the word "friends" with the title of his claimed religion. :-)
Yaelle, you are SO right. The "Adoptive Parents" sacrificed countless thousands of dollars, and years of endless amounts of energy to give this child a good life. You hear stories where such kids award the "Real (bio) Father" such honors as giving her away at her wedding. I hope this ungrateful and star-struck daughter will soon realize where her real loyalty lies before much damage is done.
If she ever finds out what happened I think she will be very angry.
I sincerely hope that anger is the only response because, in fact, that is about the healthiest response one can hope for. It is the self-loathing pathology that leads to horrible adult choices, repeating and perpetuating the legacy, that is the most sad. All the best to your relative.
I agree. I think it is a wonderful story. She must be so proud of the "birth father" she never knew. I think it is wonderful of Tom's wife and family to share their memories of him with her. If Tom was the outstanding young man that his actions show him to be, I think he would rejoice that his children now have a big sister to love.
Well, I'll go along with you on the adoptive parents thing just this once because of the cook 9/11 Pentagon story you found on another thread. K? :)
There are situations where what you call "parents," and what I call "adoptive parents" are the last people on earth who deserve the title of parent in any way, shape, or form.
Biological parents get the title regardless of what they contribute to the child's well being. The child wouldn't exist without them having parented. People who adopt need to earn the right to be called a true parent. I speak from experience, from the viewpoint of the child (now adult).
Perhaps that adoptee never felt truly loved by the adopting parents; perhaps the birth mother hated being pregnant and rejected the child with the severest emotional investment in the hating, passing on rejection to her daughter before birth, and the daughter never could find a way to make peace with all of it.
BTTT!
Not sure when she moved, but she moved to Arkansas from California sometime after 9/11.
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