Thank God for these American heros!
Bloomington Mn. man may have saved a bigger disaster on United flight
Dan Browning and Michael Rand
Star Tribune
Published Sep 13 2001
It came as no surprise that Tom Burnett Jr. may have tried to interfere with the hijackers on United Flight 93 Tuesday to avert another devastating terrorist attack on an American city.
Robert Riley, who had worked with Burnett for about seven years, said he learned early Tuesday afternoon that Burnett may have been on the plane that crashed near Pittsburgh. He said he immediately wondered whether Burnett -- who graduated from Jefferson High School in Bloomington -- had tried to foil the hijacking.
Riley started notifying Burnett's old friends and colleagues around the world Tuesday afternoon. He called Burnett's former boss from Sulzer Dental Inc., who was in Europe on business.
"He said he wouldn't be surprised if Tom tried to intervene," Riley said. "Funny, 6,000 miles apart and we both came up with the same idea."
Burnett, 38, called his wife, Deena, at their home in San Ramon, Calif., and told her of the hijacking in progress.
In an interview with KCBS radio in San Francisco, Deena Burnett said: "He said they were talking about flying the airplane into the ground. I told him about the World Trade Center plane. ... He was surprised. I could tell he was alarmed and trying to piece together the puzzle, figure out what was going on, and figure out something to do about the situation."
There was a later call that ended with Burnett telling his wife that he loved her. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that according to the family's pastor, the Rev. Frank Colacicco of Danville, Calif., Burnett told his wife: "I know we're all going to die -- there's three of us who are going to do something about it."
Deena Burnett told the radio station she couldn't say much more about the second call because its contents are part of the FBI investigation.
"Tom was a man of action," said Dr. Bill Wagner, vice president of scientific affairs at Sulzer Dental, which was known as Calcitek when he, Riley and Burnett worked there together. "If he knew that he could have any potential beneficial effect, and he knew what the odds were, he would have taken action."
Riley agreed: "This was very much in character for Tom Burnett. It's just the type of man he was."
Family oriented, driven
Bruno Waldner, the head football coach at Jefferson when Burnett went there, said Burnett was a quiet leader who overachieved to become the team's starting quarterback.
Burnett attended St. John's University in Collegeville, Minn., from 1981 to 1984 and then transferred to the University of Minnesota, where he received a degree in business.
When he heard Burnett was one of three passengers who possibly diverted the United flight away from an even greater disaster, Waldner was not surprised.
"Tom, if anybody, would have the type of character to do that," Waldner said.
"The thing I really remember about him is that as a little kid, after about fourth grade, he didn't miss a football camp at Jefferson," Waldner said. "I never dreamt he'd be our starting quarterback, but he was a pretty good one. He was very goal-oriented. He set his goals and he made them."
Wagner described Burnett as a man who exuded confidence. He made vice president at Calcitek at age 30, Wagner noted.
Sue Johnson, another former colleague and longtime family friend, said she woke up Wednesday still hoping the early reports were wrong. "He was just a really nice guy," she said. "Obviously, very social. His background was sales and marketing. He was a really good communicator."
She said he was a family man. He met his wife, a former Delta Airlines flight attendant, in Atlanta.
'Shocked and numb'
In August 1996, Burnett followed a former boss and mentor from Calcitek to Thoratec Corp. In November 1999, he was promoted to senior vice president and chief operating officer.
Johnson and others described Burnett as completely devoted to his family, and they said he had a special relationship with his dad, Thomas Burnett Sr. of Bloomington.
Burnett Sr. didn't want to talk Wednesday. But his family issued a written statement.
"We are here to speak about our brother and son, Tom Burnett, in order to honor him and show our unity with the thousands of other sisters, brothers, mothers and fathers who are mourning the loss of their family members," they said.
"Tom was on United Flight 93 that was hijacked from New Jersey and crashed outside of Pittsburgh. Of course we are shocked and numb and our grief is indescribable.
"We do know that this plane was the only plane that did not strike its intended destination and we believe that lives were spared because of this. We also know that our brother had the courage and presence of mind to react calmly and communicated with his wife during the ordeal and attempted to influence the situation on the plane."
The family said Burnett was proud that he worked for Thoratec Corp., a medical device manufacturer that helps save the lives of people with severe heart disease. "He was a man you could count on and lived his life with integrity and a deep faith," they said in the statement.
"Tom was home here in Bloomington just last weekend and he and our father went up to his hunting place in Wisconsin. Tom and our dad were best friends."
Burnett is survived by his wife, Deena, their daughters, Madison and Halley, both 5, and Anna-Claire, 4, of San Ramon, Calif.; his parents, Beverly and Tom Burnett of Bloomington, and two sisters, Martha O'Brien and Mary Margaret Burnett, also of Bloomington.
A memorial service is pending at St. Edward's Catholic Church in Bloomington. The family asks that donations in lieu of flowers be made to the Poor Clare sisters in Bloomington, 952-881-4766, or The Children's Hospital Foundation, 747 52nd St., Oakland, CA 94690, 510-428-3814.
-- Dan Browning is at dbrowning@startribune.com. Staff writer Howie Padilla contributed to this report.
© Copyright 2001 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
I read this article with a little skepticism. This sentence made me realize that this article is contrived. I know they are trying to serve a purpose, but I just don't believe most of it.
We all owe them a debt we cannot repay.
They are now with Our Lord knowing that they served him well here on earth. Their story leads me back to Psalm 23's final verse, "and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."