“A hero can give his life all in one day or he can give it one day at a time.”

       Deena Burnett wife of Tom Burnett, Flight 93 hero and alumnus of Pepperdine University

Last week our team visited Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA http://www.pepperdine.edu/ to prepare the leadershp team of a Fortune 100 company for presentations to their CEO.  After the session, I took a walk outside the Graziadio School of Business and Management, http://bschool.pepperdine.edu/ and discovered a beautiful little memorial park perched at the top of the foothill.  This peaceful oasis offered a magnificent vista of the Pacific where you could rest on a shady bench, put your feet into a water pool, or walk around and read some leaders’ quotes post the 9/11 disaster. 

I had certainly heard of Tom Burnett, a Pepperdine alumnus and one of the heroes of 9/11. But after reading what his wife Deena said about heroes, I was curious to learn more, so I went on the Burnett Family Foundation web site.  There, I found a transcript of their cell phone conversations up until a few minutes before the plane crashed into the ground. 

This writing may seem like a departure from what I usually talk about, but it really is about heroes and leadership.  I started thinking about what Deena Burnett said.  How can each of us strive to be every day heroes?

As you read this transcript of their calls, perhaps you’ll be struck again as I was about how these brave citizens became heroes.  They took action in the face of impossible odds because it was the right and only thing to do. 

If each of us were to keep in mind every day this lesson in leadership, the world would be a better place indeed.  Imagine if as leaders we decide to act, even when the odds are against us, because it is right.  This would move our country and our world closer to a model of leadership that we sorely need today. 

Transcript of Tom’s last calls to Deena

6:27 a.m.( pacific time) First cell phone call from Tom to Deena

• Deena: Hello
• Tom: Deena
• Deena: Tom, are you O.K.?
• Tom: No, I’m not. I’m on an airplane that has been hijacked.
• Deena: hijacked?
• Tom: Yes, They just knifed a guy.
• Deena: A passenger?
• Tom: Yes.
• Deena: Where are you? Are you in the air?
• Tom: Yes, yes, just listen. Our airplane has been hijacked. It’s United Flight 93 from Newark to San Francisco. We are in the air. The hijackers have already knifed a guy, one of them has a gun, they are telling us there is a bomb on board, please call the authorities. He hung up.

6:31 Deena calls 911

6:34 The phone rang in on call waiting, Tom’s second cell phone call.

• Deena: Hello
• Tom: They’re in the cockpit. The guy they knifed is dead.
• Deena: He’s dead?
• Tom: Yes. I tried to help him, but I couldn’t get a pulse.
• Deena: Tom, they are hijacking planes all up and down the east coast. They are taking them and hitting designated targets. They’ve already hit both towers of the World Trade Center.
• Tom: They’re talking about crashing this plane. (a pause) Oh my God. It’s a suicide mission…(he then tells people sitting around him)
• Deena: Who are you talking to?
• Tom: My seatmate. Do you know which airline is involved?
• Deena: No, they don’t know if they’re commercial airlines or not. The newsreporters are speculating cargo planes, private planes and commercial. No one knows.
• Tom: How many planes are there?
• Deena: They’re not sure, at least three. Maybe more.
• Tom: O.K….O.K….Do you know who is involved?
• Deena: No.
• Tom: We’re turning back toward New York. We’re going back to the World Trade Center. No, wait, we’re turning back the other way. We’re going south.
• Deena: What do you see?
• Tom: Just a minute, I’m looking. I don’t see anything, we’re over a rural area. It’s just fields. I’ve gotta go.
• He hung up.

6:45 a.m. Third cell phone call from Tom to Deena

• Tom: Deena
• Deena: Tom, you’re O.K. (I thought at this point he had just survived the Pentagon plane crash).
• Tom: No, I’m not.
• Deena: They just hit the Pentagon.
• Tom: (tells people sitting around him “They just hit the Pentagon.”)
• Tom: O.K….O.K. What else can you tell me?
• Deena: They think five airplanes have been hijacked. One is still on the ground. They believe all of them are commercial planes. I haven’t heard them say which airline, but all of them have originated on the east coast.
• Tom: Do you know who is involved?
• Deena: No
• Tom: What is the probability of their having a bomb on board? I don’t think they have one. I think they’re just telling us that for crowd control.
• Deena: A plane can survive a bomb if it’s in the right place.
• Tom: Did you call the authorities?
• Deena: Yes, they didn’t know anything about your plane.
• Tom: They’re talking about crashing this plane into the ground. We have to do something. I’m putting a plan together.
• Deena: Who’s helping you?
• Tom: Different people. Several people. There’s a group of us. Don’t worry. I’ll call you back.

6:54 a.m. Fourth cell phone call to Tom to Deena

• Deena: Tom?
• Tom: Hi. Anything new?
• Deena: No
• Tom: Where are the kids?
• Deena: They’re fine. They’re sitting at the table having breakfast. They’re asking to talk to you.
• Tom: Tell them I’ll talk to them later
• Deena: I called your parents. They know your plane has been hijacked.
• Tom: Oh…you shouldn’t have worried them. How are they doing?
• Deena: They’re O.K.. Mary and Martha are with them.
• Tom: Good. (a long quiet pause) We’re waiting until we’re over a rural area. We’re going to take back the airplane.
• Deena: No! Sit down, be still, be quiet, and don’t draw attention to yourself! (The exact words taught to me by Delta Airlines Flight Attendant Training).
• Tom: Deena! If they’re going to crash this plane into the ground, we’re going to have do something!
• Deena: What about the authorities?
• Tom: We can’t wait for the authorities. I don’t know what they could do anyway.
• It’s up to us. I think we can do it.
• Deena: What do you want me to do?
• Tom: Pray, Deena, just pray.
• Deena: (after a long pause) I love you.
• Tom: Don’t worry, we’re going to do something.
• He hung up

In celebration of Tom Burnett’s life, the family set up a foundation to educate young people about how to be good citizens and leaders of tomorrow.  Here’s the web site:

http://www.tomburnettfamilyfoundation.org/index.html

General comments for the Burnett family should be directed to tomburnettfamilyfoundation@msn.com

Mailing Address:
The Tom Burnett Family Foundation
P.O. Box 633
Northfield, MN 55057

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