Tom Edward Burnett Jr.

This is a picture of Thomas Edward Burnett Jr. (Forbes)

Tom Burnett is a hero because he tried to save all the people's lives on Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. He was very brave on this flight because he fought the hijackers by hand. He also was thoughtful of others because he didn't try to only save himself. He tried to save others. Tom Burnett was also very daring during this because he knew he was going to die and he tried to stop the plane so that people on the ground wouldn't die.

Tom was born on May 29, 1963 in Bloomington, Minnesota. Tom was always a very good persuader. When he was three years old, he asked his mom, "Can I fish on the end of the dock?" His mother said, "No." After a while, he persuaded his mom to fish in the middle of the dock through the cracks and his mom said "I guess." So whenever he went fishing he had to fish through the dock. In 1980 he was a very good quarterback for Jefferson High School in Bloomington, Minnesota. That same year Tom led his team to the division championship. After that, Tom went to St. Johns University.

Tom met his wife Deanna at college. Tom and Deanna had their first daughter in college and after that they decided to marry each other because they loved each other. After they got married they had twin girls. Thomas Edward Burnett Jr. was a senior vice president and chief operating officer of Thoratec Corp. He owned his own golf course in Jacksonville, Florida, where he helped younger kids become very good at golf.

Tom was 38 when he died on September 11,2001 on Flight 93. He was heading to New York when the plane got hijacked in the air. Tom phoned his wife four times. The first call was about what was happening on the plane and he asked her to call the authorities. The second call was when he told her that the hijackers were going to fly the plane into the ground. The third time he called and Mrs. Burnett said, "I could tell the authorities that the hijackers are making a plan" and the last call, Tom said, "I know we're going to die and three of us are going to do something about it".

When Tom Burnett died, the plane crashed in Shakesville, Pennsylvania. Earlier that morning Tom and other passengers heard that the World Trade Center had been hit by hijacked planes. Burnett and other passengers on Flight 93 had decided that they should fight the hijackers by hand. Tom Burnett had tried to save all forty passengers. The other two men that were helping Tom fight the hijackers were William Cashman and Todd Beamer.

In Pleasanton, California, the road where Tom worked for Thoratic Corp was named Tom Burnett Lane. Every year a lot of people go to that road and pray for at least ten minutes. When people pray they pray about trying to save all forty of those passengers. For Tom Burnett's family it was very hard when he died because they had not gotten to see him since September 4, 2001. Tom tried as hard as he could not to let the other people on the plane die, but the plane crashed into the ground.

Tom Burnett isn't my hero because he's famous, he's a hero to me because he tried to save so many people's lives and that's why Tom Burnett is a hero to me.