FOG BLOG 9/11 20 YEARS LOG: REMBERING THE LAST 20 AND TOM BURNETT , HERO OF FLT 93 SAVING MANY LIVES

Two decades after 9/11, Flight 93 hero Tom Burnett Jr.’s legacy lives on... There isn’t a day that goes by that Tom and Beverly Burnett don’t think about Sept. 11, 2001, and what that day cost their family: the life of their son, Tom Burnett Jr., who helped to lead the effort to take back United Airlines Flight 93 from its terrorist hijackers.

That effort succeeded: the plane-turned-flying-bomb didn’t reach its target, believed to be the White House or U.S. Capitol. But, it crashed in a Pennsylvania field, killing all 44 people on board, including 38-year-old “Tommy,” who had switched the time of his flight in hopes of making it home earlier on his twin daughters’ first day of kindergarten.

In the 20 years since, the Burnetts, who raised their three children in Bloomington, where they were founding members of St. Edward parish, have leaned on their Catholic faith. But their suffering is a deep ache that doesn’t subside.

“It seems like yesterday that we found out that Tommy wasn’t coming home anymore,” said Beverly, 90. “So, 20 years is a long time, but it seems like yesterday he was on that plane, and we were all praying that he would get off.”

The Burnett family — which includes Tom Jr.’s sisters, Martha Burnett Pettee and Mary Burnett Jurgens — have channeled their grief into a foundation they began in 2002, just a year after 9/11. The foundation supports youth leadership programs and scholarships, with a focus on helping young people become good citizens.........PRESIDENT BIDEN, ACCOMPANIED BY THE CLINTONS AND OBAMAS GATHERED IN MANHATTAN TO HEAR ALL THE NAMES BEING READ OUT LOUD BY FAMILY MEMBERS THAT HAVE LOST LOVED ONES IN THE TERRORIST ATTACKS OF 9/11. ALL THE NAMES WERE READ ALOUD IN MANHATTAN, WASHINGTON DC AND IN SHANKSVILLE PENNSYLVANIA. THE BIDENS AND OTHER DIGNITARIES LEFT MANHATTAN TO GO TO SHANKSVILLE MEMORIAL TO OBSERVE THE CEREMONY, THERE BUT NOT SPEAK SO THAT FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH CAN MAKE A SPEACH, ALL THE CEREMONIES MARKING THIS SOLEMN OCCASION OF 20 YEARS SINCE THE TERRORIST ATTACKS IN ALL 3 PLACES WERE VERY MOVING BUT SEEING THE CLOSENESS OF FAMILY AND FRIENDS BONDING WAS ALSO VERY MOVING!.........20 YEARS OF MEMORIES.....WE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER!.